Balto: Future Shock
by Kendell
Summary: Some say time isn't set in stone, Balto is about to find that out when he meets two beings from the future, one a new ally, the other a deadly enemy bent on the deaths of everyone he loves, can Balto stop the unstoppable to save the future? Done!
1. Prologue

Hello, my name is Kendell. This is my first fan fic not involving a giant monster and I'm real nervious so please be nice. Before I start, big thanks goes out to my friend Elita1Angel, without whom this fic would not be possible. Even though I mainly do giant monster fics, I've loved Balto since the first time I saw it a long time ago and I even got all three movies for the perpose of making this fic. This is a crossover with a 80s film series called Watchers but if you haven't seen them don't worry, it won't really help all that much to of seen them. What you need to know is for the most part this takes place between the first two Balto films. Ok, I don't own Balto and related characters, the Outsider and Tina are mildly based on characters from Watchers which in turn is based on a book of the same title. Enjoy!**

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**Prologue**

**New York City, 6 am, June 13, 2008**

Three men walked through a steel door, they found it odd that it was so thick. They were handed automatic rifles as they walked in. They were all criminals on death row, chosen as test subjects. If they participated, they would be set free. What they hadn't been told, is that is only if they survived would they be set free. As they stepped out into a large room, modeled after a rain forest. High above in a control room, a man in a military uniform walked in. "Sorry I'm late, I had things to take care of. Are the test subjects in the room?" he asked.

"Yes sir, General Damien." replied a female scientist.

"Seal the room and let the Outsider in, it's feeding time." said the Damien with a smirk.

The metal door slammed shut behind the convicts, trapping them. They looked around wondering what they were supposed to be shooting at, they needn't wait long. The floor before them opened up and a nine-foot metal cylinder with OXCOM2 imprinted on it came up. Smoke poured out as it opened. Standing in it, arms crossed over its chest like a mummy's, was an eight foot reptilian creature. Its long arms ended in frightening three fingered claws, it had a short snout attached to a wide menacing head that faced downwards, a long tail curled around its legs, and it looked as if under its scales were solid muscle. It snarled as it's head moved upwards, revealing a pair of sadistic eyes, its mouth opened, showing razor sharp teeth and emiting a roar. A clicking noise comes from it and a nine inch metal blade emerges from each of its claws. "Shoot that thing!" yelled one of the convicts. They open fire but the Outsider leaps out of its cylinder, almost 20 feet into the air before landing easily on a tree limb, cracking the branch. It leaps around with a strange grace in its movements. The criminal looked around, frightened. Suddenly, one falls to the ground, three bleeding holes stabbed in the back of his head. As the others look at the dead man, another is lifted off the ground, impaled on the monster's blades. It throws its victim away and advances on the final one. He opens fire with his rifle, all impacting on the creature's chest but merely bouncing off. The monster retracts the blades on one hand and uses it to grab its prey by the neck and lifts him into the air. Its other hand is thrust forwards, stabbing into the man's chest and quickly ending his life. The monster throws the dead man to the ground, its mission was complete now it was time to play.

In the control room, the female scientist nearly threw up watching the Outsider's actions. Every test they did, it always tore its dead victims apart, which was what it was doing now. The scientist shoots an angry look to the general. "How could you do that?" she asks.

"Those men were on death row any way, besides, the Outsider's killing tactics are quick and painless." replied Damien, "You didn't seem to oppose testing its power on animals. Speaking of which get that dog, we can't go to phase two until she is trained properly."

In the other end of the laboratory, a wall of cages lined the walls. In one was the dog the general spoke of. She was a young red and white husky with a tuff of white fur covering her right eye and a faded, tattered, red bandana tied around her neck. The humans had given her a comfortable cage compared to her fellow prisoners and intelligence on par with them. What they hadn't given her is the reason how they could be doing this to her. She felt the Outsider, knew where it was, even saw its gruesome work, and it knew where she was at all times, planning the murder of any human near her. All she wanted was a kind family and because of the actions of the humans, that was not possable. How could they see an animal that was supposed to adore humans as a way to get other humans killed? She changed her thoughts, pictureing in her mind her role model, her hero. "I wish you were here, you'd know what to do." she said to herself. She knew it was impossible since her hero had been gone for nearly 80 years but she could still dream. She could feel the Outsider's plans, it would enact those this day and there was nothing she could do to stop it. A worker came to open her cage.

"Come on Tina, the time for your training." said the man.

Suddenly, a red right flashed on and off and an alarm sounded. "Attention, the Outsider has broken loose and is killing anyone in its way, all units report to subdue the creature." said a voice over the intercom.

The man ran off, leaving Tina's cage open. She finally had the opportunity to escape, she took it. She ran out the door and prepared to flee the lab but turned back to the other cages, her hero wouldn't leave those other animals trapped would he? She hears a burst of gun fire and quickly nudges a button on the wall with her snout, causing all the cages to open. "Quick, get out of here now!" she yelled.

The Outsider had lept through the glass separating its test room from the control room. Once it had done that, it showed no mercy and only one remained alive. Damien was looking into its hate filled eyes as the monster lifted him to eye level. "You can't kill me! I created you and this is what I get in return?!" he yelled. The Outsider thossed him, knocking him clean through a wall. The Outsider felt Tina was escaping, only it did not know her as Tina, to it she was called the decoy because her job was to lure prey to their doom by tricking them into staying close to her so it could find them. It had to follow her as long as she was alive, it was its programming. If it allowed her to live, she would try to warn its targets and thus defy her prime function, it gave her the new identification of traitor and smiled at the thought of what it would have to do.

An hour later, Tina was in central park. She fell to the ground, out of breath. She had run non-stop because she couldn't let it catch her. She knew it would kill her if it did, she had never been more frightened in her entire life but not just for herself. "It can't find me. I'm the only thing holding it back, without me it will kill everyone." she told herself, forcing herself to her feet, finding herself facing a statue of her hero, the wolfdog Balto. She looks it over, she'd never seen it before but she knew everything about it. The statue put up in memory of Balto and his team that saved the children of Nome in 1925. Once again she wished for his help, he was her idol and she thought he could do anything. She is stirred from her thoughts by another feeling, she had let the Outsider get too close. She couldn't escape it, not here, in an open stretch on the ground she was faster but not with all the trees it could jump through. She'd have to stall it there somehow. Before she could think further, she was roughly picked up by her neck by the horrid creature. She knew the Outsider had her right were it wanted her and she didn't want it to have the satisfaction of her fear, so she fought. She bit and clawed at the infernal beast but was unable to pierce the surface of its hide. It extended the blades of its free hand and raised it towards the cloud covered skies. Before it could bring down the weapon, thunder roared and a lightning bolt crashed down from the skies. It hit the Outsider's extended claw, the beast's body crackles with electricity, causing the monster to roar in agony. Tina felt the electricity but it was diminished through the monster's thick hide, only burning the fur of her neck. Everything around the two seemed to contort and bend, as if reality itself was warping. In a bright flash both disappear, leaving only a scorch mark on the ground.

**Nome Alaska, 3 am, 1925**

There were no lights on in the town, everyone was sound asleep despite the thunder and lightning in the skies overhead. The storm seemed to come out of no where without warning during the night. It hadn't started to rain or more likely snow yet but the wind was growing pretty strong. Jenna snapped awake after a particularly loud thunder clap. After she regained her senses she checked on her owners, she found they were still sound asleep. As she returned to the living room, she thought that maybe the thunder wasn't the only thing that had woke her. She looked out at storm with a concerned expression, she was worried for Balto. She wished he'd stay with her like she asked, Rosy and her family let him come and go as he pleased. She sighed, he could be really stubborn sometimes. She guessed she couldn't blame him for not wanting to leave were he'd spent his whole life, except for before Boris took him in and not even Balto really knew what happened before that. "Maybe I'm just worrying for nothing." she said, trying to calm herself even though she knew her fears weren't completely unjustified. All Balto had to protect him from the weather out there was an old blanket and a rickety ship, and the weather wasn't the only thing she was worried about, not everyone liked what Balto had done. Since Balto saved Nome, Steele had become more and more obsessed with revenge and Jenna, he didn't just want to beat Balto in a fight, he wanted to kill him or steal Jenna. Balto always avoided Steele when he could and ignored him when he couldn't and Jenna loved Balto too much and knew Steele too well to give in to his advances. Still, Steele never stopped making fun of Balto and even though he had pride in his wolf half now, it hurt him when Steele taunted him for it, maybe it hurt worse now. She told Balto to stand up for himself but he said that was just what Steele wanted him to do, get mad and fight him. Jenna knew Balto could beat Steele easily but she had to agree that if Steele got him mad enough, he couldn't think clearly and Steele knew it. He knew Balto wouldn't start a fight unless he was mad and ambushing Balto would probably just result in Steele losing and making Balto look good. The only time Steele would stand a chance in killing Balto was if he was angry or asleep. Was Steele really that desperate for revenge to sink so low as to kill Balto in his sleep? Jenna didn't think so but she still couldn't bare for Balto to be so upset. She put her head down out of saddness, it broke her heart that there was nothing she could do to help her mate but try to comfort him. She suddenly had an awful feeling, she couldn't figure out what it was but something bad was going to happen and part of her thought Balto would get caught in the middle. "Balto, please be ok." she said, trying to put her fear aside. She laid down and tried her hardest to slip back into sleep.

On the outskirts of Nome, a lightning bolt struck the ground beside the main road into Nome. At once the storm thunder and lightning stopped and snowflakes began to gently drift to the ground. As the smoke from the strike cleared, a red and white shape was left unmoving in the snow…

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Ok, first chapter done, I must say it was fun to write. I didn't tell the month in the past because I'm unsure of what month it would take place in. I know Balto himself didn't appear in that chapter but next chapter has a lot of him, expect it Tuesday of next week or sooner. See you then! 


	2. New Arrival

Ok, I'm posting this early for two reasons, one its more popular than I hoped and two this story is just easy for me to write. Thanks to all those who reviewed. Ok I probably should of mentioned this last chapter but my notes were too long, this fic is rated T for blood and fights. Ok, now for Balto to make his appearence and we learn more about Tina's personilty. Please note, as mentioned before this takes place between the first two films and I'm taking a few events from the true story. Even though its rather obvious that the Outsider is our main villian, Steele is also going to be causing trouble. Enjoy and please review!**

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**New Arrival**

**Nome Alaska, 7 am, 1925;**

Balto leaped from his boat, he was running late. He started into a dash as soon as his paws hit the ground, "I better make up the time or Jenna will be worried." he said, smiling at the thought of his mate before jumping onto the top of a fence then onto a roof and making his way across town. He had traveled the country for the past few months along with Nikki, Kaltag, Star, and the other dogs on the team. Everywhere they went, they were met with a hero's welcome. It was fun but Balto missed his friends in Nome horribly. When the humans with them saw him sad one day, they correctly guessed he was homesick so the other dogs were still traveling and he'd been taken home. A few things had changed while he was gone. Jenna had told him her friends Dixie and Silvie's families had moved away in his absence due to the overflow of tourists into the town, she didn't know if it was for good or not. Likewise Boris hadn't been able to handle all the tourists poking around the boat so he had left, naturally Muk and Luk had followed their 'uncle', until Balto came back or the tourists thinned out, both of which had happened so he had sent word with the last sled dog team that had gone out to the town Boris was staying near, one that the dogs, all young ones on their first run, had wanted him to lead but he turned them down. It wasn't that he didn't want to, it was no secret he'd wanted to be a sled dog since he was a pup, he'd just been away from Jenna too long already. That was also why he was late, because Boris wasn't there to wake him up. Balto stopped, his paws sliding on the new fallen snow, he had been so caught up in his thoughts he hadn't noticed he was running towards the edge of a roof with the next one being too far for him to jump. He slid to a stop right at the edge. "That was close." he said, turning to get back on his path, his right front paw slipped on a patch of ice, causing him to lose his footing and fall off the roof. Luckily he landed in a pile of soft snow. "I guess I better be more careful, won't always be a pile of snow to break my fall." he said, crawling out and shaking the snow off his coat. "Good thing Boris wasn't here, he would of given me an earful for that." He laughed, thinking of just what the goose might of said when he remembered something. The town were Boris was staying was only a day or two away from Nome. Maybe the sled team would be coming back soon and even though he guessed his friends probably wouldn't be able to keep up with them, he still wanted to know if they had gotten the massage. It wasn't too far out of his way so he ran down the main road.

As he ran, he heard some people ,most of them looked like tourists, talking about his heroics, he even slowed down when some reached out to pet him. To be honest, he really didn't care about the fame, all he had really wanted to do was save Rosy for Jenna and he had done that, not that he wasn't glad that the towns people didn't hate him anymore. He then saw something that made him stop, Steele was walking down the other side of the street. No collar hung around his neck anymore, his owner and friends had disowned him after finding out what he had done. Some people pet Balto on the head as they pass, sparking a glare and snarl from Steele, whom they were ignoring completely. Humans might not of known everything that happened that night but it didn't take them long after Balto and the sled team returned to figure out Steele had abandoned his team in the middle of a blizzard. The tables had been turned, Balto was the hero and Steele was the hated outcast and Steele didn't like it one bit. Balto didn't know if it was that or the fall Steele had taken after their fight but Steele was becoming almost insane. Balto looked around for some way to avoid Steele, no such luck, he'd have to do his best to ignore him. Balto had to walk at a slow pace, there were more people in this area or else he might of just dashed past Steele. As he passed, Balto braced himself as best he could for Steele's insults. "Stupid half-breed, why don't you just go back to your pack like a good wolf ? I promise I'll take good care of Jenna, even if she has horrible taste in mates." said Steele mockingly, making sure Balto heard him then letting out a rather disturbing laugh while his face turned to an almost demented smile.

Balto didn't respond in any way, he just walked past the larger dog. Once Steele was out of sight, Balto hung his head and tail low, he was sad, angry, and confused. No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, no matter how many times he heard the same insults, Steele's words always cut like a knife and hearing Steele wanting to take Jenna away just made him furious. He really didn't want to fight Steele, that was just what Steele wanted, but he wished Steele would stop, that's why he didn't show Steele that he was upset, that would only get him picked on more. He was proud of his wolf half and he and Jenna loved each other too much for anything to get between them so why could Steele always get to him? He dug his nails into the ground in an attempt to vent some of his anger. He drove it out of his mind as best he could, if the sled team had came back he didn't want to look upset when he met them and he definitely didn't want to look it when he saw Jenna. He went back into his run once there was enough room to do so, the sooner he checked the sooner he'd get to Jenna and Rosy. He reached the edge of town and looked around, he didn't see anything, not even tracks in the fresh snow. "Well, maybe in the morning." he said, slightly disappointed. Boris was the closest thing he ever had to a father and those two polar bears were like family too, he just wanted to know if they were on their way home yet. Balto laughed, he had a pretty weird family, his mother was wolf, his father was a goose, his best friends were polar bears, Jenna was the only normal one in the bunch. As he turned to head back into town, he caught smelled something. It wasn't very strong but he recognized it as the smell of burnt fur, he remembered it from when Jenna had burned Steele a few months ago. He looked back into town and then in the direction of whatever he was smelling. "Well it can't be far besides someone might be hurt and I can't just leave them out here." he said and ran after the scent. At first he didn't see anything until he almost tripped over the red and white dog buried partway in the snow. He looked it over, at first he was worried it might of been Jenna but then he realized that it was too small to be her, whoever it was they were younger than he and Jenna were. He could tell from the scent that it was a female and strangely she smelled similar to his mate, he thought she must just be another husky. Then it occurred to him, the amount of snow on her meant she'd been unconscious out in the cold for awhile, a lot of times that was when someone died, was she still alive? "Hello?" he asked, he was happy to see some response in the form of a small twitch on her eyelid. He nudged her with his nose.

Tina began to wake up, the first thing she noticed was that she was freezing cold, it made her entire body ache. She couldn't remember what happened, she was in too much pain to concentrate on trying. "If you don't wake up, you'll freeze to death out here." said a voice as something gently nudged her shoulder. She opened her eyes with a groan but her vision was blurred for a few seconds. When her vision focused, she was surprised to see Balto. She had no reason to believe she was face to face with her idol, she was just startled to see a wolf dog of any kind. She tried to get to her feet but she was shivering too badly and her legs felt numb from the cold. Balto saw this. "You must be freezing, let me help you to the boiler room, you can warm up there." said Balto.

He helped Tina up and let her lean on him for support. "Th-thank y-you." she stuttered.

A few minutes later, Balto set her down in the warm boiler room and managed to find her a blanket. Balto then laid down near by. Normally the sled dogs stayed here when not on runs but all the sled teams were out at the moment so the boiler room was empty. Balto then noticed the burn on Tina's neck, the shape of it was strange, like whatever burned her had grabbed her to do it. That was strange but not as strange as how much she looked like Jenna, the only differences was her age, the tuff of fur over her eye, and the eyes themselves. Her eyes were strange, it wasn't that he hadn't seen eyes like them before, in fact it was because they seemed so familiar, he just couldn't remember where he'd seen them before. "Feeling better?" asks Balto in a concerned voice after letting her warm up for a few minutes.

"Yes, thank you very much, if you hadn't found me, I probably wouldn't of lasted much longer. I owe you big time." said Tina, getting up and shaking a combination of water and unmelted snow off her fur before stretching her legs to try to get the blood flowing threw them again.

"You're welcome but you don't owe me anything, I was just doing the right thing."

"It was still a nice thing to do, one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me." Even though she was very grateful, Tina hadn't been looking at Balto when she said that, she was still wondering where she was. Even though she wasn't hurting anymore, all she could remember about what happened was at the moment was that she was in New York City in the summer before she lost consciousness and she woke up outside a town half buried in snow. Her enhanced intelligence on the other hand seemed unaffected. She looked around the room, looking for some inclination of her location. Then she spied a newspaper clipping on the wall. She had seen it before, it was one of the newspaper articles from Nome about Balto's sled run. What shocked her was that it looked so new. "Excuse me, how old is this?" she asked pointing to the article with her nose.

"That's from the newspaper a few months ago, why do you ask?" asked Balto, he found it strange considering nearly everyone in the country knew what he had done.

"I'm just trying to figure out how I got here, where is here anyway?"

"Nome, Alaska." Balto noticed the shock on her face when she heard that. "Why are you so surprised?"

"Because before I lost consciousness, I was in New York City."

"You're pretty far away from home."

Tina was in shock, Balto was right she was very far from home but that wasn't as surprising as the fact that from the looks of things she was in 1925, about 83 years in the past. Had she really went back in time? Then it hit her. She was talking to a wolf dog in Nome, Alaska in 1925. "Your name wouldn't be Balto by any chance would it?"

"That's my name."

"The same Balto that on February 2, 1925 lead a sled dog team through a blizzard, past many obstacles including his long time tormentor Steele to deliver a load of desperately needed diphtheria antitoxin to the town of Nome, thus turning from a despised outcast to the town hero?"

Balto was surprised by how specific she was. "Yes, that's me."

"Amazing…oh sorry I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Tina."

Tina's expression completely changed, she had looked rather confused before she found out who he was but now she was very happy, if not a little embarrassed for not introducing herself earlier, this confused Balto a little. "Glad to meet you, I have a feeling you're glad to see me."

"Yeah, you're my role model, I wish I could do all the things you've done and a few things you haven't done…yet. By the way has Jenna had her first litter?"

"What? No." said Balto, a little unsettled, what she had said was strange and her question seemed to come out of nowhere.

Tina wondered, if she really had came back in time then she could alter history but sense she was never supposed to be there she had already done that, the truth was no one knew what would happen because she was the first one she knew of that had gone back in time, maybe she was even supposed to have come back or the universe was going to implode, human time travel theories were confusing. She guessed as long as she didn't reveal too much it would be ok. "Really? You'll be very proud of them, two in particular take after you a good bit. One in looks, the other well you know what they say, like father, like son." said Tina.

Balto gave her a confused glance. "Well I'm sure I will be proud. Sorry but did you get hit on the head or something?"

"No, but I seem to remember lightning for some reason, everything else is a blur right now."

"Well that explains that burn on your neck but how could you know about kids I haven't had yet, are you from the future or something?", he thought Tina was joking.

"Actually, yes."

Balto just stared for a few seconds. "You're serious?"

"Nah, I'm just pulling your leg...or then again maybe I'm not." said Tina with a laugh and a mischievous smirk, she decided maybe she'd better wait a little while before telling the truth, at least until she could completely remember what happened before she went back in time, but she couldn't resist fooling around and she seemed to remember that Balto had a good sense of humor.

Balto looked at her cautiously, what did she mean by that? He decides she was joking and laughs. "You had me going there for a minute, I'm still not sure about you but lets go see what Jenna has to say." he said, a little unsure of what to make of Tina.

"Ok, I've always wanted to meet her too." said Tina, making sure her bandana was on tight and biting off what burnt fur she could reach, Balto noticed her bandana strangely looked like Jenna's, only aged.

"Nice bandana, my wife wears one like it."

"Really?" Tina said, after Balto turned around a smile crossed her face. "You have no idea." she whispered.

Balto looks over his shoulder. "What?"

"Oh nothing." she said as he lead her out the door…

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Ok, as you can tell Tina is a bit of a trickster when she can. The Outsider will come back into play in a few chapters and Boris, Muk, and Luk will show up later. Also does anyone know the correct spelling of Rosy's name? I've heard it spelled a few ways. Hope that chapter was better. See you next time! 


	3. Time's Design

Hello and marry Christmas! Time for the next chapter, once again thanks to all those who reviewed. This fic may have a good bit of romantic stuff with Balto and Jenna, that's just how my brain wanted to right it, there will also be a good percentage of hurt/comfort elements which you will see in this chapter. Anyway enjoy!**

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Time's Design

**Nome, Alaska, 7:30 am, 1925;**

Now that she had regained her senses, Tina noticed how quiet it was compared to New York City. The noise of the loud city seemed so far away in the calm of this small town, Tina had to admit it was a lot easier on a dog's sensitive ears, an improvement in her book. "It sure is a lot less hectic here than where I come from." she said, relaxing a bit.

"About as exciting as it normally gets around here is when a sled race is going on, everyone loves to watch those, including me but I'd much rather be in one." said Balto. He caught site of the time through a nearby window, he was late. "We'd better pick up the pace, Jenna is probably worried about me. Think you can keep up?"

"Keep up? I could ask you the same thing." Tina smiles before she takes off, Balto quickly runs off after her.

"You don't even know where you're going."

"I know a thing or two about this town, you'd be surprised what you can find out with the right source. You said you liked races didn't you? Well you're in one now!"

Balto wondered again, Tina had never been to Nome before but she was heading in the right direction and she knew it, he began to rethink what she said earlier. He smiled, they probably would of made better time if they took a shortcut across the roofs but she'd pretty much challenged him to a race and he couldn't resist accepting. He managed to catch up but couldn't get ahead of Tina, she was every bit as fast as he was, he was impressed. "You're pretty fast."

"Thanks, that means a lot coming from you." They kept neck and neck for the next few blocks. Balto leaps over a bit of ice on the road, Tina didn't see it and slipped. She goes face first into the snow and going in up to her front shoulders. Balto stops and waits as she pulls herself out, he couldn't help but laugh, nether could Tina. Both had enjoyed the race. "Guess you win."

"Let's call it a tie, you just didn't watch were you were going, it happens."

"Ok then. I'd ask for a rematch but you said you were late."

Balto leads her off the main road and behind a row of houses, he was going to try and get them up on the roofs so they could make better time and avoid…"Hey half-breed." called Steele from behind them.

"Oh great, Steele." said Balto, clearly irritated.

"Steele? Oh you mean that bully who always picks on you. Big dog with a bigger ego, used to be the fastest dog in Nome, back when they didn't count wolf dogs." said Tina, trying to sound respectful when she mentioned the wolf dog part, knowing Balto was sensitive about it.

This made Balto even more curious about Tina, he and Steele's former team were famous but Steele himself wasn't all that well known outside of Nome yet Tina seemed to know a good bit about him. "Just ignore him." he whispered to Tina.

Steele walks up between them, when he got a closer look, he looked surprised. He had thought Tina was Jenna but now he realized he was wrong, though Tina was just as beautiful. "Well wolf, who's this? Does Jenna know you're cheating on her?" asked Steele in an accusingly tone, he then turned to Tina. "What do you say about coming with me instead of this mangy half-breed?" Partly he did want Tina because she looked like Jenna but mostly he just wanted to get her away from Balto.

"I found Tina hurt outside of town, I'm taking her to see Jenna right now so we don't have time for your insults." said Balto, he was trying to keep his feelings hidden but Steele had gotten to him again with the insults about his wolf half and Steele had really made him mad with that comment about cheating on Jenna, he would never even think about doing something like that.

Tina was mad too, only she wasn't making any attempt at hiding it, she had her teeth bared and was growling at Steele. She hated males who only wanted her for her looks, the last dog who couldn't take a hint needed 30 stitches afterwards, not only that but evidently Steele couldn't tell that he was almost twice her age. She spots a rock on the ground and gets a mischievous look. "Steele, shut up." she said and kicks the rock into Steele's mouth as he opened it to respond. He stops to pull the rock out as Tina smiles. Tina turns to Balto, losing her grin when she saw he was upset, no one deserved to be disrespected and hurt like he just was. She wanted to do something but she couldn't, she had taken a risk to history with what she just did. "I know this is supposed to happen but that doesn't mean I have to like it." she thought, growling to herself. She didn't know what was less fair, how Balto was being treated or that there wasn't much she could do.

When Steele managed to dislodge the rock, he could see he had Balto mad and Balto had his back turned. Steele dashed forwards and jumps through the air, aiming to sink his claws into Balto's back. Balto saw Steele out of the corner of his eye. He quickly kicks with his hind legs, catching Steele hard in the bottom jaw. Steele falls to the ground but quickly gets to his feet. He spat out some blood and a string of frankly unmentionable words, his jaws had been slammed shut on his tongue when Balto kicked him. "Lucky shot." said Steele once he stopped cussing.

"I still don't want to fight you Steele but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you throw me around like last time." said Balto, he and Tina turn to leave but Steele tries to bite Balto's hind leg, Balto jumps out of the way. Steele keeps trying to attack but Balto keeps dodging. Steele was beginning to lose his temper. Balto jumped backward to avoid another bite. He places himself between Steele and a pile of wooden crates. Steele charges and Balto side steps him at the last moment. Steele ended up pinned beneath a heap of broken wood, his ego was more hurt than he was but he still couldn't force his way out. "There Steele you got what you wanted, we fought. Now leave me alone and keep your paws off Jenna, come on Tina." said Balto, he was still upset but beating Steele had helped and hopefully taught Steele a lesson.

Tina had been glaring at Steele, that sneak attack was the last straw. "Ok, just a minute." she told Balto. She walks up to Steele and looks him in the eyes with a sudden seriousness. "Want a tip Steele? Give up and move on. You've never beaten Balto and you're never going to beat him, trust me I know." Balto wondered again, was Tina playing mind games or did she really know? Tina's face turns to anger. "And about your offer…" Tina smacked Steele in the face in the dog equivalent of a strong slap and then hit him in the snout with her tail as she turned to walk over to Balto, leaving Steele to seethe in his anger. "It probably altered history in some way but if Steele listens maybe it will be for the better, for both of them." she thought as a smile crossed her face.

"I'll get you for that!" growled Steele, anger and embarrassment obvious in his voice and a demented look in his eyes. He tried to pull himself out but only succeeded in causing a board to fall off the pile and hit him in the head.

Balto and Tina walk away, Tina stopped once they were out of earshot of Steele. "I'm sorry Steele treats you like that, you don't deserve it, no one does." she said.

"I've been made fun of all my life for being half wolf, even now that I'm a hero I'm still being picked on and not just by Steele." said Balto, still quite upset.

Tina puts her paw on Balto's shoulder in a comforting gesture, Balto thought it felt heavier it should. "Hear me out. I know it hurts but don't worry about it. Those other dogs are just making fun of you to make themselves look big and tough, to make them feel better about themselves, or because they're jealous, probably all three in Steele's case. All that shows is you're a better dog than them. Now try to cheer up, you don't want Jenna to see you like this do you?"

Balto smiled, he was really starting to like Tina. "You're right…What do you think about me being half wolf? I just want to know. Please be honest."

Tina looked at him like it was a weird question. "What do you think? I like it, heck I'd give anything to be like you. Let me ask you something, could you of saved Nome if you weren't a wolf dog?"

"No, a dog couldn't of done what I did, Steele proved that."

"That wasn't the only reason you succeeded where he failed. You did that run to save lives. Steele did it for his own ego. So it looks like you have Steele beat 2 to 0."

"I guess nice guys don't finish last after all." said Balto with a laugh. What Tina had said made him feel better, it didn't make the pain go away completely but it helped. "Let's get going."

Jenna set in the living room, her eyes centered on the door. She yawned, even after the storm calmed down, she hadn't been able to get to back to sleep and she was having trouble keeping awake. She just couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was going to happen and Balto being late didn't help things. She always worried when he was late, she couldn't help it. "Bye Jenna." said Rosy, the little girl pets Jenna on the head, Jenna smiles and barks a happy reply. Rosy and her parents were going to the store, Jenna would normally go with them but she was just too exhausted and she just didn't feel safe to go out without Balto because of Steele. She usually wouldn't worry about Steele but with the shape his mind was in right now, there was no telling what he might do to her if he found her without Balto, she was afraid to find out. She wasn't too worried about Rosy, attacking a little girl definitely wouldn't benefit Steele's standing with the humans, one of the two things he cared about, the other being himself.

"Come on Rosy, we've got to go." said Rosy's father.

Rosy ran to her parents. Jenna was relieved by what she saw when they opened the door to leave, Balto had just walked onto the porch. Balto walked through the door, receiving a pet on the head from Rosy in the process. "Hello Balto." said Rosy with a smile. Balto returned the smile and let out a happy bark. He took Rosy's hat off a nearby chair and handed it to the girl. "Thank you." Rosy hugged the big wolf dog's neck.

Balto smiled again, just seeing Rosy cheered him up. She was the only human that had always been able to see more than just half of him, he had to prove he was good to everyone else but Rosy had always known and treated him like it. When Rosy let him go, he ran over to Jenna, who nuzzled the side of his head as the family left. "Where are they going?" asks Balto, confused.

"Just to the store, they'll be back soon. Where were you?" asks Jenna.

"I'm sorry I'm late, I'm still not used to getting up without Boris's help and then I got into a scrap with Steele." Jenna snapped back as soon as she heard him.

"You fought Steele? Are you hurt?" she asked, concerned.

"I'm fine, he tried to attack me when my back was turned but he didn't even hit me. I just got out of his way until he got himself trapped under some crates, He'll find his way out eventually."

"I'm more worried about you."

"Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself."

Jenna nuzzled him again. "I know, its just I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you."

"You won't have to find out, Jenna, I promise…Not to change the subject but there was another reason I'm late."

"Which is?"

"I found this dog unconscious outside of town, she has a really strange burn on her neck but other than that she looks fine. She's waiting outside, mind if I let her in?"

"I don't mind Balto, she can't be any stranger than your other friends."

"I'm not so sure about that." Balto thought as he pushed the door open. Tina had stayed outside because she didn't want the family to see her, she didn't say why. "Tina, you can come in now."

Tina and Jenna almost fell backwards when they saw each other and they looked each other over, almost mirroring the other, both very surprised. Jenna had instantly seen how much Tina looked like her. The eyes also caught her attention, like Balto she recognized them but couldn't remember were she'd seen them before. Balto suddenly burst out laughing, Jenna and Tina looked at him confused for a second before realizing how funny they must of looked and start laughing as well. "Hello, I'm Jenna, this is rather strange." said Jenna once she managed to stop laughing.

"I'm very happy to meet you, I'm a huge fan of you and Balto. I wish I was as brave as you are, I'm not sure I'd be able to attack a grizzly bear to save anyone." said Tina with a smile, Balto might have been her idol but she knew that Jenna played a big part in what happened that night. "You're right about this being strange, this is a 10 on the weirdness scale." She was surprised because she'd been told how much she looked like Jenna but she had no idea just how much they looked alike. She got an embarrassed look. "Sorry, I can't seem to remember to introduce myself today! My name is Tina."

"That's alright. Where are you from? I've never seen you before."

"New York City. I have no idea how I got here, I just remember being in New York, I was running, lightning, I can't remember anything else about what happened." Tina's memory was coming back in bits and pieces, what was she running from?

"Well you can stay here if you like, I'm sure the family won't mind an extra dog for a little bit. Where's your owner?" said Jenna.

Tina looked unsure of the answer. "I don't have one, well I do but he's…let's just say I have issues with him." Tina suddenly looked scared, she remembered seeing what happened to Damien through the Outsider's eyes. "The Outsider…" she muttered, in her excitement she had totally forgot that monster. The rest of her memory surged in. She remembered looking into the Outsider's eyes as it was struck by lightning, reality warping around them. Where was the Outsider? She dove into her mind, she was surprised, the Outsider's twisted thoughts were gone, she couldn't feel it at all anymore, what did that mean? She needed to think.

"Tina, what's wrong?" asks Balto.

"Trust me, you don't want to know. I need to be alone for awhile." Tina ran out the door before Jenna or Balto could reply to her.

"Balto, what's going on?" asks Jenna, for some reason she was scared. That last thing Tina said made a chill go up her spine…

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Cliffhanger, I actuelly don't do those a lot. As mentioned earlier, Steele is going a bit insane and I just had that part of him hitting on Tina to show a certain element of Tina's character as well. By the way, can anyone guess which of Balto's pups Tina refrences last chapter? See you next Tuesday and once again Marry Christmas! 


	4. An Acceptable Risk

Happy New Year everyone. I updated this before but I left somethings out I wanted in but I fixed it. We'll find out some more about Tina and a little about the Outsider, it still won't show up for awhile but don't forget about it! Enjoy!**

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**An Acceptable Risk**

**Nome Alaska, 7:55 am;**

Tina ran to the outskirts of Nome completely opposite of Jenna's house, she was panting heavily but she didn't want to risk Balto and Jenna's lives if the Outsider was around. She tried to piece things together. "Ok, I probably forgot because of shock, no surprise there." she said. "The Outsider was caught in the warp too so it should of came back but why can't I feel it anymore? From what I know about the Outsider's durability, the lightning probably didn't kill it but the time stream might have, probably easier for me to survive the trip because of I'm smaller. That could also mean it is still in the time stream and could still make it out, just later than I did, the link will probably reform in that case so that isn't so bad. I might be stuck here but that isn't necessarily a bad thing as long as I'm careful not to mess up history to much, not hard to do that when you're a dog." She thought of something that terrified her. "Ok, worst case scenario; it was sent back and the link was severed by the warp, unlikely considering how the link was designed but still…" She heard someone walking behind her. She snapped around so fast she fell over. Tina let out a sigh of relief, it was just a human walking by. "Well that almost gave me a heart attack, as if I didn't have enough problems."

She walked back to Jenna's house slowly, thinking over her situation more. Once she reached the house, she nudged the door open enough to see through. The humans weren't in the room but Tina could hear their voices in another room, probably having breakfast. Jenna and Balto were lying in front of the fire, Jenna had her head resting on Balto's front paws and appeared to just be waking up, she got to her feet with a yawn. "Did you sleep better?" asks Balto.

"Yes, its easier to sleep knowing you're safe." said Jenna, nuzzling Balto.

"I'm sorry I worry you, this is a nice place but I'm just not an inside dog."

"I know, you'd probably have as much trouble sleeping here as I would sleeping on your boat. We'll find some way to make this work."

"Yeah we will…that's not the only thing on your mind is it?" he knew Jenna better than anyone and he saw something was bothering her.

"Balto, I'm not sure if we should trust Tina." Jenna felt awful for saying that but something about Tina just didn't feel right, same with how much she knew.

"Jenna, I trust your instincts a lot but Tina really looks up to us and she's lost a long way from home, that's probably why she was scared. We can't help her home, New York is just too far away, but we can try to make her feel at home."

Tina understood how Jenna felt, she showed up knowing everything about them and then ran off, she'd be untrusting if the roles reversed. She wasn't scared that she was lost, she didn't have anything to get back. Even if she liked her old life, Damien was dead and the lab had probably been leveled by now in some kind of cover-up. Still she needed them to trust her, if the Outsider had came or was coming back, she couldn't stop it alone and they were the only ones she could turn to, she couldn't speak human. "Ok, the Outsider may be here already or it might show up, if that's true, I'll need their help which means they have got to trust me, that's easier if they know." she told herself, she took a deep breath. "Come on Tina, you can do this, there is no other choice, even if the Outsider doesn't show up, I might be stuck here and its better they find out sooner than later…" she groaned. "Please don't let this destroy the universe." She nudged the door open more and barked, Balto and Jenna looked in her direction and she motioned to them.

"Glad you're alright." said Balto as they walked outside.

"Sorry for running out like that, I just needed some time to think."

"Its fine."

"…Look, I overheard you guys talking."

Jenna looked down at her paws. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't of said that, its just I've had a bad feeling all day and then you showed up and you kind of scared me back there so I wasn't sure what to think." said Jenna, she felt ashamed for what she had said.

"Its ok, you had every right to be cautious, I'm a stranger and I've done nothing to earn your trust."

"You haven't done anything to betray our trust ether." Balto pointed out.

"Yes I have, I've kept something very important from you but I'm not going to keep it a secret anymore."

"What is it?"

Tina suddenly looked very serious. "Balto, I wasn't fooling around earlier, well I was but not about what you thought."

Balto realized what she was talking about and would of thought she was joking again but he saw how serious she was. "You're saying you really are from the future?"

"Wait, what?" asks Jenna.

"Something I told Balto earlier and then told him I may of been joking, I wasn't. I am from the future, Sunday, June 13, 2008, if you wish to be exact."

Jenna and Balto looked shocked. If she had told them that when they first met her, they might of thought she was joking or crazy but not after seeing the things she knew. "I'm sorry Tina, I'm just not sure if I believe you or not." said Balto, confused.

"Same here." said Jenna, just as confused as her mate.

Tina chuckles. "I didn't expect you to believe me, I wouldn't believe it if it wasn't happening to me. I'll just have to prove it to you." said Tina with a smirk.

"How are you going to do that?" asks Balto, slightly curious.

"I could tell you some things that should happen soon but if I've learned anything from watching Doctor Who, its tell someone too much about their future and the universe might implode…sorry, that hasn't been created yet. I was very close to one of your descendents, so I know every detail of your run. Go ahead, ask me anything you think I shouldn't know about it."

Something instantly came to Balto's mind. "What did I meet when I fell off that cliff that night?"

Tina thought for a second. "I believe you met a white wolf."

Balto and Jenna looked at each other with shock. Jenna was the only one Balto had ever told about that, he hadn't even told Boris. "You're right."

"If you still have doubts about my story, I've got something else to show you. Jenna, do you know what this is?" asks Tina, slipping her bandana off and laying it on the ground in front of Jenna.

Jenna looked it over and sniffed it. After a couple seconds, her eyes grew wide when she realized that she did recognize it. She looks at her own bandana and back to Tina's. They were the same one, except Tina's was torn and faded which would make sense if Tina was from the future. Jenna knew for sure it was the same one, she had only taken hers off once since she got it and that was to give it to Balto that night. "My bandana?" she asks even though she knew the answer.

Tina nodded and slipped it back around her neck. "This was a going away present from your descendant, I'm surprised it looks this good after 83 years. As to why we look alike, I have absolutely no idea. You don't have to believe me but I hope you will." Tina wanted to tell them about the Outsider but she needed to make sure it was there first. Even if she was pretty confident the universe wouldn't implode, she didn't want to scare Balto and Jenna for no reason and she needed time to think up a plan so if it showed up, they had a chance against it.

It was a few minutes before Jenna and Balto could reply, needless to say, they were stunned. "I believe you Tina." said Jenna, it was all she could think to say.

"So do I." said Balto.

"Thanks, you have no idea what it means to me to hear you say that." said Tina.

"You're welcome, you can stay here as long as you need to." said Jenna.

Tina shook her head no. "I'd love to but sorry, I still might get back to the future and if I meet Rosy, I might bond to her like you have and then I'll have a hard time leaving, it will be better if I stay on Balto's boat until I can figure out everything out." That wasn't the only reason, she also didn't want to risk bringing the Outsider into Nome if it showed up, Balto's boat was on the outskirts and Balto himself should be safe considering it doesn't see dogs as targets, except her.

"That's fine with me, its been lonely out there lately but I should warn you, it isn't the most comfortable place to sleep." said Balto, he laughed. Even if she was from the future, he didn't see any reason not to treat Tina like any other friend he had.

"I've probably had worse. Life hasn't been good to me." Tina seemed upset.

"I'm sorry to hear that…but I'm sure things will get better." said Jenna, trying to cheer her new friend up.

"Thanks, I'm hopping it will. Well you'd better go be with Rosy. I think I'll go check out the town. I've seen lots of maps about Nome but I want to see the town for myself. I'll meet up with you later." said Tina, smiling. She wasn't just going to see the town, she had to find proof if the Outsider was in Nome or not. If it was, it wouldn't be that hard to find, there weren't many places in town for it to hide and the fresh snow would make it easy to find footprints if there were any, Tina prayed there wouldn't be.

Balto, Jenna, and Tina walked up to Balto's boat later that night, talking about the day. They all broke out laughing at the part where Tina slapped Steele. "Well see you tomorrow, Tina can you make sure Balto wakes up at the right time?" asks Jenna as Tina jumped up to the deck of the boat. She felt better knowing Balto wasn't alone, especially since it was someone that wasn't afraid of Steele.

"I'll try but I'm ahead of you guys by a few hours." said Tina, she hadn't found any trace of the Outsider so she was in a good mood but she was still cautious.

"Goodnight Jenna, I love you." said Balto.

"I love you too, goodnight." replied Jenna before nuzzling her mate.

"Are you sure you don't want me to walk you home? You know how Steele is getting."

"Balto, I'll be fine. Steele is probably still off sulking from your fight." said Jenna, despite the fact she was still scared of what Steele might do if he caught her alone.

Jenna walks back towards her house as Balto jumps onto the deck of the boat to find Tina staring up at the sky. "I forgot how beautiful the stars are, the last time I saw them was when I was a puppy, kind of ironic considering I won't be born for over 80 years." said Tina, smiling.

"Yeah. Wait, how long has it been since you saw the stars?" asks Balto, confused.

Tina turns her head to show a small, black tag in her ear that Balto hadn't noticed before. "I've been a research animal for a long time. I'm in such good shape cause they trained me so hard. This might sound weird but could you please tear this tag out?"

"Won't that hurt?"

"Yeah, a lot, but if I do get back to future, I don't want them to be able to find me and this tag has too many bad memories anyway. Plus, this thing itches like crazy." Tina scratches her ear with her hind leg. "Just grab it and rip it out but please make it quick."

"No problem, hold still." Tina grits her teeth as Balto bites down on the tag before jolting his head to the side. Tina yelped when the tag was torn out of her skin. "Sorry."

"Don't worry, I've had a lot worse and I'm a fast healer. Thank you." Tina smiled, it had hurt and her ear was bleeding but the whole time she'd had that tag in was a living nightmare, she felt relieved it was gone. Tina looked back up at the night sky, Balto joined her. After a few minutes, Tina looked at Balto. "Do you know what constellations are?"

"No but your going to tell me right?" asks Balto, smiling, he was intrigued.

"You bet. They're shapes humans made out of stars. For example, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the big bear and the little bear." Tina traced the stars with her nose.

"Like Muk and Luk." Balto laughed, he'd have to show them that. He then watched intently as Tina pointed out more constellations. "Is there a wolf?"

"Not that I know of."

Balto looked disappointed by that. "No wolf? Oh well. You sure know a lot."

"Trust me, it wasn't worth what I went through to get this smart."

"I'll take your word for it." Balto yawned "we'd better be getting to sleep." Balto goes to crawl under his blanket but stops and looks back at Tina. He grabs the blanket and puts it over Tina. "You're my guest, you shouldn't have to be cold."

"I appreciate the offer but you need it more."

"No I don't, I'm used to the cold, you're not." before Tina could argue, Balto lays down on opposite side of the deck. Balto didn't say anything but something was bothering him. After few minutes of trying and failing to get to sleep he decided to ask. "Tina…earlier I promised Jenna that I'd never leave her, do I keep that promise?"

Tina didn't know how to respond. "I'm sorry Balto…"

Balto's heart sank when he heard her say that. "Oh…"

"No, its not that, I'm sorry that I can't tell you because I don't know. Jenna's history isn't recorded very well and your descendent didn't get that far before I left so I don't know if ether of you lives longer than the other one." Tina hid her head under the blanket. She was sorry but not for that reason. She knew the answer but she didn't want to tell him too much about his future, some things she knew might of already changed.

"Sorry for asking, I just wanted to know, Jenna means the world to me."

"I know…You think everything I know will happen?" Tina chuckles, causing Balto to shoot her a confused glance. "Think of time like that race you won, well you know except for what Steele did after. The other dogs only knew one path to take…" She drew a curving line in a patch of snow on the deck. "But that path wasn't right for you so…" She draws a line from one of the curves to the end. "You made your own."

Balto smiled, he understood. "Actually I got knocked off the racetrack and had to catch up but I know what you mean. Thanks for telling me that."

"I should really be thanking you just for existing. I started life as a stray and ended up with a cruel man as an owner who made every moment of my life up to this point a living nightmare but I survived thanks to stories about you. If I may quote a close friend of yours; 'Balto, I'd be lost without you.'"

"You're welcome. Goodnight Tina." said Balto, he knew who she was quoting, Rosy had told him that after she was cured by the medicine he and the other dogs brought all that way. He had came through for her when she needed him most and in the process had unknowingly done the same for Tina and knowing that felt wonderful.

"Goodnight Balto." Tina could tell she'd made Balto happy by the sound of his tail wagging and hitting the boards. Once she knew Balto was asleep, Tina got up and put Balto's blanket back on him before going back to her spot and going to sleep…

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Hope you enjoyed it. That last part was to give some more on Tina's personilty and end the chapter on a lighter note. See you next time! 


	5. Fact or Fiction

Hello again. Today we learn a great deal about Tina's past, somethings that are pretty tramatic and some may not like, nothing too graphic though, just thought I'd warn you. Hope you like it! **

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**Fact or Fiction?**

**Nome, Alaska, midnight, 1925;**

Balto was sound asleep, having a dream about being in a sled race. He was just about win when something woke him up. He yawned and looked around, there wasn't a light on in town, it must of still been night. "Why is it the good dreams you can't finish?" he asks himself with a laugh. That's when he noticed his blanket. "How did? Of course, she wouldn't take no would she?" He walks over to where Tina was asleep, she looked frightened and was mumbling to herself, he guessed she was having a nightmare. "Tina? Wake up." He nudged her with his paw. She jolted awake quickly, her head slammed hard into Balto's. He fell backwards but caught himself. He shook off the impact and turned back to Tina. The young husky was panting and gasping while looking around her, frightened. "Tina, calm down, you just had a bad dream."

"A bad dream? Yes, that's right." said Tina, she calmed down and began to rub the top of her head with her paw. "Ow! What'd I hit?"

"Well…" Balto rubbed his own head.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry."

"Its fine, accidents happen."

"Thanks for waking me, that was a pretty freaky nightmare and trust me if I say something's weird, its weird."

"Want to tell me about it? It might make you feel better."

"I'd rather not."

"Alright but if anything's bothering you, I'll listen. That's what friends are for."

Tina nods as Balto turns back to go to his spot on the deck. "…Balto?"

Balto stops and looks over his shoulder. "Yes?"

"I do want to tell you…"

Balto walks back over to her. "Alright. I don't know how much I'll be able to help, I'm not the best when it comes to telling what dreams are supposed to mean."

"Yes, I seem to remember that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What do you think?"

Balto realizes she was referring to something in his future. "I get it. Now tell me about this nightmare."

"This dream, it was scary because I didn't understand it. It was just…I don't know. Maybe I should just tell you the whole dream."

"That might help."

Tina woke up and looked around, to her shock she was in an ally back in New York City. "Warp must of worn off. Shame I didn't get to say goodbye to Balto and Jenna." she said. As she got to her feet, she heard something coming from the next ally. She quickly ran over. She saw a rather large, gray, male husky walking down the ally, grumbling to himself.

"Daddy, wait up!" yelled a soft female voice. The male looked back and Tina follow his gaze to see a red and white husky pup running up to him, Tina thought the little dog looked rather cute but was strangely familiar. Her paws lost their grip and she fell but got right back up and chased after her father. The father however, didn't acknowledge her and just continued to walk away. The little dog cocked her head in confusion. "Daddy? Where are you going?" Her father just kept walking and she continued after him. "Can't you hear me?" Her father deliberately sped up, irritated. "Why won't you talk to me?"

The adult spun around with anger in his face. "Don't you understand you worthless mutt?! I don't love you or anyone related to you! Especially that lying mother of yours!" he yelled.

The pup backs away, whimpering with her tail tucked between her legs and tears in her eyes. "Did I do something to make you mad? I'm sorry." She began to cry.

Tina felt like crying herself, she felt sorry for the young dog. "Poor thing." she said and tried to put her paw on the pup's shoulder but to her shock, it just passed right through. She tried repeatedly but the same thing kept happening, she began to get scared.

"I hate you! Now go home, I never want to see your face again!" yelled the father. The pup refused to move, she only cried harder. "Fine then." He roughly grabs his daughter by the back of the neck with his teeth, making sure he drew blood before violently throwing the helpless animal into a trashcan nearby, knocking it over. Tina thought she heard the sound of breaking glass and a loud yelp of pain. "Good riddance." said the male before walking away.

Tina couldn't believe what she had just seen, that dog had just tried to kill his own daughter. She tried to bite the male but had a similar effect to when she tried to touch the pup. "What is going on here?" she asks herself, she was starting to get really scared. She went to check on the young dog.

The pup staggered out of the can and collapsed. She had landed on a broken bottle, several shards remained lodged in her back, a rather large one in her right shoulder. Tears streamed down her face. "Why'd he hurt me? Did I do something wrong?" she asked, confused.

"Poor thing." Tina looked the little dog over, when she looked at the head, she recoiled in terror. The pup had the exact same marking as her and the same tuff of fur over the eye.

"So the pup was you?" asked Balto.

"Yeah, that's what's so strange. I don't know why I'd have a dream like this, I don't remember anything like that happening to me and I've never seen it happen but it seems so familiar." replied Tina, clearly upset.

"You're right that is weird. I've never had a dream like that ether."

"I just don't know what it means. I'm so confused and…" Tina didn't know why but she just wanted to cry. She didn't want Balto to know but he saw it anyway.

"Its alright if you want to cry, I'm the only one here and I won't make fun of you, I promise." He made sure his voice sounded reassuring.

Tina broke out crying, Balto put his paw over her back to comfort her. Tina cried for she didn't know how long before she stopped. "Thank you."

"For what? I didn't do anything."

"Yes you did, do you know anything about your father?"

Balto recoiled slightly, she had caught him off guard. "Just that he was a purebred husky and he made me feel safe, can't remember much else."

"I can't remember anything about mine, I remember my mom told me he left when I was very young but I know he didn't do what happened in that dream, he couldn't have. When he wasn't there for me, the stories about you were. In a way I guess, you were like a father to me, thank you for that." She didn't know if her father had done that but she prayed he hadn't.

Balto didn't know if he deserved that but he felt proud. "You're welcome."

"And thanks for listening, no one listened to me except my mom and my big brother and I haven't seen ether in a really long time."

"Why?"

"I haven't seen my mom since I was adopted by the cruel man I mentioned before and my brother…he died right in front of me." That was one of the most awful memories she had and she'd never stopped having nightmares about it ether.

"I'm sorry to hear that." He could see that deeply distressed Tina, that she blamed herself. "It isn't your fault, bad things happen."

"Thanks…Think we should be getting back to sleep?"

"Yeah." Balto turned to get back under his blanket but stopped. "If you'd like, I think there's enough room under here for us both. Rosy goes to sleep with her parents when she has a nightmare, well Jenna told me she does and I hear most human children do. You said I was like a father to you so maybe it would keep you from having another nightmare."

"Maybe…"

"And evidently, that's the only way to stop you from being cold seeing as you won't take the blanket yourself."

Tina chuckled nervously. "I didn't want you to be cold" she said.

"I understand." said Balto, smiling. The two crawl under the blanket and go to sleep.

The next morning, Balto and Tina were walking to Jenna's house, both panting some. They'd raced again, Balto had won but it was very close. "I'll beat you next time." said Tina.

"We'll see." said Balto. He caught sight of his reflection in a puddle, it reminded him of something Steele said, it bothered him so he decided to ask. "Do you think I look mangy?" He felt a little awkward asking but he had to get it off his mind.

"Not mangy, you're fur is messy but it's a good look for you." Tina smiled and caused Balto to smile. "And I think Jenna would agree."

"Balto!" called Jenna happily as she ran out from behind a corner, she slipped and ended up coming to a stop with her nose touching Balto's. She steps back and both smile, embarrassed, Tina breaks out laughing.

"Jenna, we've got to stop meeting like this." said Balto, remembering the last time.

"Actually, I kind of like it." with that, Jenna licked Balto on the cheek.

Balto smiles, he would of blushed if dogs could. "Well…Did you sleep alright?"

"Yes, I felt better knowing Tina was there with you. I was coming to visit you for a change but you're early."

Balto smiled. "Tina got me up on time and we managed to avoid Steele."

"That's good, think he's given up?"

"I doubt it, Steele doesn't seem like one who gives up without a major fight." said Tina, if she remembered correct, Steele messed with Balto until Balto's pups were born.

"She's right." said Balto, a little upset by that.

Jenna decided she better change the subject. "So Tina did you sleep well?"

"Pretty well. Thanks for asking." said Tina.

"Your welcome."

"Tina, do you want to tell Jenna about your dream? She probably can give you a better answer than I can." asks Balto, Jenna was better at this kind of thing than he was.

"Yes, I would if that's ok with you Jenna." said Tina.

"I don't mind, I'm glad to help if I can." said Jenna.

Tina tells Jenna about her nightmare and her own father, managing not to cry this time. "What do you think?"

Jenna thinks for a few minutes before coming up with an answer. "Just so I'm clear, you have no memory of your father?" she asks.

"Right, come to think about it, most of my younger years are a blur."

"Tina…do you think this could be a memory you didn't want to remember?"

Tina looked stunned for a minute, she hadn't even considered that. "A suppressed memory? I suppose that's possible." Tina didn't want to believe it could be true, that her father could do that to her.

Balto thought of something. "Tina, let me see your shoulder." said Balto. Tina complies and Balto parts some of the fur with his snout. He looks shocked. "Tina, if that glass cut into your shoulder, there'd be a scar right?"

"Yes there should be."

"Like this one?"

Tina looks in a puddle of melted snow to see that there was a scar going across her right shoulder in the exact same place the pup in her dream was cut. She gasped, it was true but she wished it wasn't. "So my dad really did that to me?" Tears began to form in her eyes, she thought she could feel her heart breaking, she felt sick.

Balto and Jenna nod grimly. "It looks that way."

Tina begins crying even harder than before. Jenna put her paw on Tina's back. "I'm sorry Tina, I shouldn't have said that." said Jenna, feeling a little guilty.

"No, thank you, I needed to figure it out." said Tina, trying in vain to wipe the tears out of her eyes with her paw. "I always thought he loved me but he beat me up and left me to die, I was such a fool." she said quietly, she was furious at herself for letting her think that lie for so long.

"You just wanted to think your father loved you, you wanted him to, no one can blame you for that. I probably know better than anyone what its like to want to be accepted by someone who won't, there are still both dogs and humans in this town that don't trust me. If anyone's at fault here, its them, not me or you." said Balto, offering what comfort he could and getting a smile from Tina.

"Thank you, those stories I was told were there when my father wasn't, both of you are so brave and that encouraged me to keep going. I guess your still here for me huh?"

"I'll help you as much as I can."

"Me too." said Jenna, smiling.

"I'm not sure what to say except thank you." said Tina.

"Your welcome." said Balto with a grin.

"So what should we do with the rest of the day? Wish I had been sent back in time for a sled race."

"Well I've got to see if Boris is on his way back, Tina you said Jenna's history isn't recorded well, why don't you get to know her better?"

"Fine with me, what could happen?" Of course Tina knew something very bad could happen, just because the Outsider hadn't shown up yet didn't mean it wouldn't but it was alright for the moment and she was still very determined to enjoy her time with her idols.

"Alright, just don't take too long." said Jenna as she nuzzles Balto.

"I'll do my best." said Balto before running off.

"You're very lucky to have him Jenna, hope one day I can find one like him one day, wolf half and all but so far all I can find is dogs like Steele." said Tina, faking a disgusted face at the end.

Jenna laughs. "I think we're going to get along just fine." she said.

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Yeah, Tina probably wishes she hadn't remembered that. Don't worry, next chapter is pretty lighthearted and funny to make up for it. See you next time! 


	6. Girl Time

Hello. Today we have mostly our two female characters, though Steele learns a lession in the end. We also learn more about Tina and her family. Enjoy.**

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**Girl Time**

**Nome, Alaska, 7:15 am;**

Jenna and Tina set in an alley, just talking. "So I just jumped on the bear, if Balto died, so would Rosy and the other children and I was in love with Balto, to me my life really wasn't important at the time." said Jenna, she was glad Tina really wanted to hear her side of the story, her friends and Balto were the only ones who ever asked. She was also happy because she hadn't had another female to talk to since Dixie and Silvie moved.

"Cool, I wish I was that brave." said Tina, she was excited, she'd heard parts of what Jenna had done that night but there really wasn't much she knew about her.

"I'm sure if it was someone you loved pinned under its claw, you could."

"That's just it, there really isn't anyone that matters to me in the future."

"No one?"

"No one, the only ones I ever cared about were my mother and siblings, haven't talked to any of them since I was a pup. I used to love my dad until I found out what he did. Most of my brothers and sisters got loving owners, I got a heartless man who only saw me as a tool, what he did still gives me nightmares."

Jenna felt bad she brought it up. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Its fine, jerk got what was coming to him."

"What happened to him?"

"He's dead, he liked to make very dangerous weapons, one finally did him in." Tina didn't want to tell Jenna about the Outsider yet, telling her it was a monster would need an explanation so she called it what it was, a weapon.

"Oh…" Jenna understood Tina probably was better off that her owner was dead but talking about it made her feel uncomfortable, she thought she better change subjects. "Do you know how Rosy is doing in the future?"

Tina thinks for a moment. "Last time I checked, she is living happily in New York City with at least one granddaughter."

Jenna smiled, knowing that made her happy and feel even more grateful for Balto saving Rosy's life. "Thanks for telling me that."

"You're very welcome, I know Rosy is very important to you, I wish I had ended up with someone like her. A nice human child, children have so much more energy and are a lot more playful than most adults, my old owner, in addition to the other reasons I didn't like him, would never let me have time to play."

Jenna agreed, her and Rosy always had a lot of fun together, Rosy also liked to play with Balto which was just fine with Jenna. "They are a joy to be around, though you have to keep an eye on them sometimes." Jenna chuckled, Rosy wasn't that hard to keep safe, she didn't stray far from Jenna or Balto when they were with her but there were times she would of got herself in trouble if it weren't for them.

"I wouldn't mind, as long as they don't do what my last owner did to me, I'm fine." Tina didn't want to think about a lot of the stuff Damien had done to her.

Jenna wondered just what Tina's owner had put her through but she knew it would probably upset both of them to talk about it. "…You know if you can't get back to the future, I don't think Rosy's parents would mind another dog."

"I'd like that, I'm trying to figure out if I can get back, its really complicated." That was an understatement, Tina was doing her best but the calculations were so hard it made her head hurt and the human ideas of time travel could be false, that was the problem with being the first at anything, theories about it could be completely wrong.

"Well I hope we'll get to know you better before you leave."

"I hope so too…Can I ask you something important?" Tina felt more comfortable talking to Jenna than Balto, maybe because she was a female like her.

"Sure."

" Do you think I'm a bad dog for hating my old owner?" The question bothered Tina because despite the enhanced intelligence, she was still a dog, dogs were called man's best friend, did that apply when the man wasn't friendly?

Jenna had hoped not to be asked that question. Of course she didn't think Tina was bad, Jenna could tell Tina needed a better answer than a simple no. She had been with Rosy's family almost her entire life, the only reason she'd dislike a human was if they did something to hurt Balto. Tina on the other hand was adopted by a terrible man, something Jenna had never met. She thought over the question. "I don't think you are, you are a good dog who met a bad human. To be honest you'd be better off asking Balto, he has more experience with being mistreated by humans." said Jenna.

"Yeah, guess its kind of my fault I ended up with the jerk." said Tina.

"What do you mean?"

"Well you see I was a stray in New York, it wasn't easy and my mom wanted a better life for me and my siblings. She made it look like a human was giving us away so we would get adopted. One of my brothers had died earlier in the week and I was pretty torn up inside, didn't stray far from mom…"

_Flashback start_

At the entrance to an alley in New York, a red and white, adult female husky set over a cardboard box beside which she'd set an old sign with the word 'free' on it, she had dug it out of the trash. Inside were four puppies, two were black and gray males and the other two were red and white females. Tina's younger self was laying sadly near her mother on her bandana which was bigger than she was. She looked over at her siblings, they were close to the side nearest to the sidewalk, barking happy at the passing humans. She wanted to join them, their mother had worked very hard to set this up and was hoping it would work but Tina was too sad. One of the males saw this and walked over to her. "Tina? What's wrong?" he asked confused and concerned.

Tina lifted her head to her brother. "Hey Tucker, its just…there should be five of us here." said Tina, visibly upset, she was the only of them that had seen their brother die, she wished she hadn't.

Tucker lowered his head and whimpered, that made him sad too. "I know. It wasn't your fault, it wasn't anyone's fault. I'll be over with the others if you need me. I'll say goodbye first if someone wants me."

An hour later, Tucker and Tina were the only two left. A man picked up her brother to take him. "Bye Tina, I hope we see each other again." called Tucker as his new owner took him away.

"Me too." said Tina, she hadn't moved from her mother's side.

The mother watched till Tucker was out of sight before looking down at Tina. "Well you're the only one left, you know this is really hard for me to do but its for the best, you don't have to live out here, you can have a home and that makes this worth it." said Tina's mother, Tina couldn't tell if she was happy or sad.

Tina got ready to say something when a voice interrupted her. She peeked over the corner of the box to see a tall, rough faced man talking on a cell phone. "Yes, I've been looking…Unfortunately the age we need seems hard to find, the pet stores are completely out of pups this week…Why can't we just order one, we have government funding…I see, Damien out." said Damien, hanging up. "Cheapskates at the Pentagon, they'll fund a project but won't pay for the small stuff." He looks over at Tina. "That's convenient." He kneels down and picks Tina up. He peels back her lips with his fingers, inspecting her teeth and gums, he looks over the rest of her, this made Tina a little nervous but she knew how much it meant to her mom for her to be off the streets. "Looks healthy, a little undernourished but that shouldn't be a problem. Huh?" Tina's mother handed the old bandana to him in her mouth. He takes it and the larger dog points to her daughter. "Oh, got it, this belongs to the little one. Well I guess I'd better keep it." He turns and drops some money into the box, ignoring the sign. Tina was happy someone wanted her but she was sad to leave her mother, she waves goodbye with her paw, her mother replied in kind. Damien carries Tina down the street in one hand and dials the cell phone. "Its Damien, I found a dog."

_Flashback end_

"So if I hadn't stayed so close to my mom, I probably would have been adopted earlier, not picked up by Damien." said Tina, it had upset Tina a little to talk about it but it felt good to get it off her mind.

"But wouldn't one of your siblings of been taken instead?" asks Jenna.

"Maybe, maybe not. I only know my siblings got good homes and Tucker became a police dog, he's doing a good job, saw him on the news once or twice with his teeth in some crook's arm. I guess my mom is probably still there too, she's tough. If I do get back, Tuck is the only one I could probably find, hey what do you know? I do have something to get back to!" Tina smiled, she couldn't believe she'd forgotten about her brother.

"Glad to hear it." Jenna had some questions about this Damien guy but she didn't feel good asking, she didn't want to upset Tina, she was also confused as to what a cell phone was but guessed it served the same purpose as a telegraph.

"Aw, isn't that sweet?" asks Steele mockingly as he walks up to Jenna and puts himself between her and Tina, receiving a growl from the latter, he replied by kicking snow in Tina's face. He'd only heard part of the conversation but he really didn't care. "So Jenna, why don't you leave that mutt and come with-"

"Not another word!" yelled Tina, interrupting Steele. She was furious, she didn't care who he had called a mutt, her or Balto, it reminded her of her nightmare, of the horrible thing her father had done to her and she couldn't stand that. "I think Jenna would rather hang out with a 'mutt' than a selfish, insensitive jerk like you."

"Big mouth, can you back up it up?" Steele bared his teeth, he did think Tina had the same beauty as Jenna but he really didn't like her and would love an excuse to get his paws on her.

Tina snarls. She goes around him to go back to Jenna. As she walks behind Steele she stops for a second. "You're not worth my ti-" Steele kicks her in the stomach with his hind leg hard enough to take her feet off the ground for a moment and knock the wind out of her. Tina hits the ground with whimper.

Jenna ran to check on Tina while Steele laughed before leaving. Tina was still coughing and gasping for air. "Tina, are you hurt?" asked Jenna, concerned.

"What do you think?! Of course I'm hurt!" yelled Tina, angrily. Tina manages to catch her breath and realized what she'd done. "Jenna, I…I didn't mean it. You were trying to help but I was angry and I just…I'm sorry." Tina put her head down in shame.

"After what you've been through today, no one can blame you for losing your temper, what Steele did was just uncalled for." said Jenna, she couldn't blame Tina, Steele had really upset her. "What about you?"

"I think I'll live." Tina sits up and covers her aching stomach with her front leg. "Steele is a jerk, what did I ever do to him? Well I slapped him but he deserved it."

"Yeah, he didn't hit Dixie when she slapped him a few months ago, then again he wasn't going crazy."

"You know what? I think we should get him back, I can't hurt him without endangering the timeline but I can pull a prank on him." Tina gets a mischievous smirk.

"Count me in."

Looks at Jenna, slightly confused. "This isn't too immature for you?"

"What? I don't like Steele and I could use a good laugh."

Fifteen minutes later, Jenna and Tina watch an alley in front of them, safely in the shadows, Jenna didn't have her bandana. Steele walked down the alley, he didn't suspect a thing, he was following Jenna's scent, that was part of the plan. He stopped were the scent was strongest and sniffed around. Tina cuts a rope near her with her teeth. A rope came up out of the snow under Steele's hind leg and pulled him upwards before coming loose and dropping him near a wall. Jenna pulls another rope with her mouth, causing cans of pink paint on a shelf above Steele to overturn and pour on him. "What the heck just happened?!" he yelled before seeing his reflection in a broken piece of glass leaned against the wall, almost his entire body was bright pink. He looked himself over to make sure he wasn't mistaken, he tried to hide his humiliation and took off to find somewhere to wash the paint off and avoid further embarrassment.

Once he was out of sight, Tina and Jenna started laughing so hard they couldn't breathe. "That was priceless, did you see the look on his face?" asked Tina, trying to stop laughing.

"I know, that was fun, he had that coming a long time." said Jenna, having just as hard of a time stopping herself. She walked out and dug her bandana out of the snow were Steele was sniffing and slips it back on, she hadn't wanted to use it at first but they needed something with her scent on it, it had worked quite well.

"We're lucky he's so obsessed with you or that never would of worked."

"What's so funny?" asked Balto walking up to them. He was dripping wet and shivering.

At first Jenna was worried because he looked sad but then she realized it wasn't his feelings that were hurt but his pride, he must of felt embarrassed to come up to them looking like he did but he probably wasn't as embarrassed as they just made Steele. She tried not to laugh, Tina didn't, she laughed rather loudly. "What happened to you?" asks Jenna, giggling some.

"I meant to get back earlier but this fisherman was drowning so I jumped in to save him, he's fine but man that water was cold!"

"Good job. Sorry for laughing but its kind of funny to see you like this." said Tina.

Balto shakes himself off, purposely drenching both Jenna and Tina. He starts laughing himself, they join him. "Very funny, come on, lets go dried off and get warmed up." said Jenna.

A couple seconds later in the boiler room, Balto was laughed hysterically at what they had done to Steele. "I wish I had been there." he said.

"Yeah, it will wash off but in the meantime he's going to be pretty embarrassed. That should teach him a lesson." said Tina, chuckling.

"So I'm guessing you had a good time."

"Yeah we did, we learned a good bit about each other." said Jenna, she'd enjoyed herself quite a bit, she didn't think she'd ever laughed that hard in her life.

"You bet I did." said Tina, her mischievous side was loving this.

They all turned to leave the room when a deep, menacing voice echoed inside Tina's head. _"I'm coming back."_ it said.

Tina looked around, not sure where it came from. "Did one of you say something?" Jenna and Balto shook their heads no. Tina tried to detect the Outsider, no such luck. "Must just be hearing things." she hoped she was.

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What was Steele's lession? Don't get on Tina's bad side. As you can guess, the Outsider returns next chapter, see you then! 


	7. Return of the Beast

Ok, its time for our story's murderous monster to return to the story. Note: this story will get a little more violent after this but this story is about as gory as the story gets and it isn't that bad. Here we go!**

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**Return of the Beast**

**Alaskan Wilderness, 6 am;**

Out of no where the storm came, like the one that dropped Tina off only far stronger. The winds threatened to uproot trees and boulders, lightning bolts struck, and the storm spiraled, forming a funnel. A miniature tornado touched down and spun for a few minutes before it was lit up by a lightning bolt striking the ground within it. The storm, like the one that hit Nome, calmed instantly, the tornado disappearing. The dust from it quickly settled. The Outsider rose from the smoking crater created by the lightning strike and the twister. It looked over its surroundings. Snow and ice, it found this interesting but it wasn't completely unprepared for this, its hide was designed to protect it from far lower temperatures than this but if it was sleeping it could be plunged into a hibernation sleep since it was a reptile. It would have to create itself an area to sleep. That was a concern, self preservation, it was in the animal genetic code it was spawned from. It looked through the link and smiled. A small town full of people, easy pickings. Before it could think further, it was interrupted. It turned to see a grizzly rise from a nearby cave and roar. The storm must of awakened it, the Outsider didn't care much, this creature was not a target, if it attacked it would be a threat and then it would become a target. The Outsider stood its ground and waited to see what would happen. The bear charged at it, stopping in front of the Outsider. Once again, the genetic horror didn't move. Not even as the bear rose its claw to strike it. As the bear brought its claw down, only then did the Outsider react. Its left hand launched its hand up and caught the bear's claw easily. The Outsider's right metal claw extended and then it drove the weapon into the bear's skull, piercing skin and bone like tissue paper. The animal struck the ground dead. The Outsider looked at the blood on its claw before licking it off and retracting its weapons. This wasn't just a sadistic act, it had never encountered a bear before, it had to gain knowledge on this. It extended its claws and cut into the bear. Unlike the last victims, this was more like a dissection than just ripping its victim to shreds. It was learning about it, were the vitals were located for an easy kill, how powerful its muscles were, and anything else it could learn. It finished its dissection fifteen minutes later and heard footsteps, it smelled a human. It retreated into the darkness of the forest to watch.

A human hunter walked into its view in a couple minutes. He looked over the bear carcass. "What the-" the man was interrupted by a twig snapping behind him. He turned, his shotgun pointed in the direction of the noise. He heard another noise behind him and turned to look again, once again there was nothing. "Who is there? Show yourself!" He ordered. Suddenly, he was pulled to the ground and lifted upside down in front of the Outsider. The beast looked over the frightened man, its eyes locked on his gun. It identified it as an older model shot gun, not much of a threat. It roared and threw the man a good distance away. The man scrambled to his feet. He discharged his shot gun twice. The first shot struck the creature in the chest, doing nothing. The second shot struck it in the face, its head snapped backwards before it slowly brought its head back to focus on the hunter, then it simply cracked its neck and approached it prey. The man reloaded but the monster was in front of him too quickly. The Outsider's long tail whipped around and wrapped around the hunter's gun before pulling the gun from his grasp and throwing it away. The Outsider slammed its tail into the man, knocking him down a hill nearby. The man's head slammed into a rock on the way down and he rolled onto the ice covering a frozen lake. The Outsider approached its victim, extending its claws to finish the job. Its foot broke through the ice as it took the first step, it withdrew its foot quickly. One of the beast's weak points was its metal skeleton made it impossible for it to swim but it was forbidden from giving up prey. It looked for a few moments, calculating. It leapt over the ice and drove its claw into the man's chest before quickly jumping back to shore. The ice broke under the man and his body sank into the lake. The Outsider let out a victorious roar before it turned to the cave the bear came from, it would make a perfect lair, it had little time to waste, it had to sleep soon.

**Nome, 6:30 am;**

Tina shook Balto's shoulder, panic in her eyes. She felt the Outsider, it was there. She had one thing on her side, the sun was rising, the Outsider was nocturnal so it would have to sleep soon. "Please get up, we're in big trouble." said Tina.

Balto woke up and yawned, having no idea how grave the situation was. "What's up?" he asked before seeing how serious Tina was. "What's wrong?"

"You'll find out soon but you'll be wishing you hadn't.

It took them an hour to get Jenna and reach the spot of the Outsider's attack. Jenna looked at what was left of the bear in shock. A grizzly had nearly killed her and Balto so what on earth could do this? She felt sick, she' d barely ever been far from Nome except when she helped Balto on the serum run, she wasn't used to seeing death, to seeing blood and it made her feel like she was going to throw up. Balto was shocked at what happened to the bear but he wasn't sickened, he'd had to do a bit of scavenging before he saved Nome just to survive so he'd seen all manner of dead creatures. "Tina, no animal on earth could do this, not to a grizzly." said Jenna in some disbelief.

"Nothing was eaten, even if a predator could do this to a bear, it would of eaten something." said Balto, pointing out what he found odd.

"You're right, this thing is very selective about what it eats and no animal can do this but a monster on the other hand…" said Tina.

Balto would of laughed if Tina wasn't from the future and being so serious, there really was a monster out here. Then he remembered something Tina had said. "The Outsider, you said that earlier, is that what this thing is called?"

Tina chuckled. "Very observant, you're right, that is the monster's name." Tina looked through the link, the Outsider was sleeping, it was a very heavy sleeper. "I'll show you the creature, its asleep right now but you have to be quiet." Tina went into the cave before they could argue, they had to know whatever they could learn.

Jenna was scared, whatever killed the bear was very dangerous. Tina wanted them to see it, it must be important. Balto to was scared but he kept it hidden so not to make Jenna more frightened. They walked into a rather large chamber, a shaft of light illuminated the creature, it stood in a pool of hot water, sleeping with its arms crossed over its chest. The water came from a hole in the wall that was pouring it out. Jenna grimaced and got out of the cave, Balto couldn't blame her, the monster gave off a fearful feeling, Balto would of left as well if Tina wasn't taking it so seriously, she wanted at least one of them to get a good look at this thing. Then he realized another reason Jenna might of left. The water was from a hot spring so the room stank of sulfur and Balto also detected the stench of rotten meat, he couldn't tell from where. Jenna had already been feeling ill from seeing the bear, that smell couldn't of helped it. Balto put his paw over his nose, the smell made his eyes water. He looked at Tina, she barely even flinched, she was ether too serious to care about the smell or she was somehow used to it. Anyway he was glad when they got out of the cave. Jenna was sitting nearby, gagging. She was surprised she hadn't thrown up. "I'm sorry for leaving, I was already feeling sick and that smell, I've never smelled anything so awful." said Jenna.

"I know. Tina what was that thing?" asked Balto.

"Its not safe to tell you here, lets get back to town and I'll tell you there." said Tina as they turned back to town.

The three of them set in the boiler room. Tina made sure no one was around. "Ok, the creature you saw was created in 2008 by the US military. It's code name is OXCOM2 but it is commonly called the Outsider by humans. It is the second such monster to be given the code name OXCOM, thus the two." explained Tina.

"Wait, there's another one of those things in the future?" asked Balto, surprised.

"No, that creature was created in the 80s and there was at least one other, just called the Outsider. Some sources indicated as many as four such creatures were created, all destroyed after escaping and going on murderous rampages."

"Sorry I asked."

"You are lucky in that you live in a time of relative peace, in my time the US is at war on terrorists sects in another country. The war is becoming very costly in terms of human lives so the government was beginning to lose face. They needed soldiers that were effective, reliable, and most importantly, expendable. So my former owner General Damien, dug up the project from the 80s and updated it to create this monster. The Outsider is what's called a super soldier, it is powerful enough to take out entire squads of soldiers in seconds and it is almost invincible to firearms of any kind. Even if one is killed, they could just make ten more, making it expendable. The previous creatures were all linked to Golden Retrievers named Einstein who ended up helping slay the beast in the end."

"Where is this one's 'Einstein'?"

Tina put her head down, somewhat ashamed. "Lets just say they thought a husky would be less friendly than a Golden Retriever."

Balto and Jenna gasped. "You're linked to that thing?" asked Jenna, shocked.

"Yes but I didn't want to bring that monster here, I thought it might have been dead but it wasn't it was trapped in the time stream. In addition to the link, I was altered to be smarter than most humans."

Jenna was scared, not for herself but for her owner. She couldn't bring herself to ask but Balto could. "What will happen if it comes here?" he asked, pretty certain of the answer.

Tina sighed and looked grim. "I won't lie or sugarcoat this. If the Outsider reaches town, everyone will die. The Outsider has no remorse or mercy, it's a monster bent on murder. It doesn't see civilians or soldiers, it doesn't see men, women and children, it only see humans as targets that need to be exterminated. If it saw Rosy, it wouldn't see a little girl, it would see a target to be slaughtered"

Jenna almost cried at the thought of that, Rosy had been her friend her entire life. Balto could only think of one thing. "How do we stop it?" he asked.

"I likely wasn't completely blindsided by this. I thought it might return so I made two possible, though extremely dangerous and life threatening, plans. Both plans involve you Balto."

"Why Balto?" asked Jenna, concerned and confused.

"Simple, he is the only dog in town strong enough and knows the area well enough to do it, well there is Steele but he's probably not in the most helpful mood."

"She's right Jenna, alright, what are the plans?" asked Balto.

"Plan A, you guide me out into the middle of the Alaskan wilderness, the Outsider will follow and try to kill us, it has the advantage out there by the way, its programmed that way. Once out there, we find a way to freeze it and keep it frozen, if it keeps moving its fine in the cold but if it can't move it will become immobile, that's because it's a reptile."

"That's why it made its lair like that, to keep it warm."

"And plan B?" asked Jenna.

"We stand and fight. Not easy consider its strength is enormous and its main weapons are its nine inch metal claws, together it can use them to rip through a foot of solid metal like its tissue paper."

"But you said it was invincible." said Balto.

"No, I said almost invincible. Its hide is resistant to guns and heat but its not unbeatable. This is the prototype version, its not compete, it has weaknesses. I don't know them all but I know it can be destroyed. Both plans may result in our deaths but we need to think of the alternative, we do nothing and everyone you care about dies. I didn't want to drag you into this but there is no choice, I can't turn to anyone else. You don't have to choose now, it won't attack for three days, in three day a blizzard is supposed to hit it knows that from weather charts I looked up, it will use that for cover for its attack. Balto, I'd suggest you stay with Jenna and I'll stay close by, its safer for all of us if we're together."

"Alright, I'll think about it some." said Balto, he was confused. He could die ether way but if he did nothing, like Tina said, everyone would die. "Has it killed anyone here yet?"

Tina nodded grimly. "A hunter, I see its murders through the link. I've seen so many horrible things, things no one should ever see." Tina cried some, the things she'd seen troubled her deeply. Balto and Jenna put their paws on Tina's back in comforting gestures, they couldn't think of anything to say…

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Well the Outsider is here and Balto, Jenna, and Tina have their paws full. See you next time! 


	8. Suprising Truths

Alright, sorry for not updating on time, computer troubles. Anyway here we are. I have a big bit of info on both the Outsider and Tina, on Tina some of you might of seen it coming. Here we go!**

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**Surprising** **Truths**

**Nome, Alaska, 4 am;**

Tina woke up. Everything seemed to be perfectly calm. She was sleeping in the shed behind Jenna's house, Jenna and Balto were sleeping inside the house. She couldn't understand why she woke up. She heard something outside, footsteps. She began to feel afraid. "Who's there? Balto?" she asked.

The door splintered and in walked Tina's worse nightmare, the Outsider. Tina couldn't run, she just backed away from the creature. It shot forwards and extended its claws. It drove its blades into the wall around Tina's head and kept them there, ensuring she had no escape. _Hello, traitor._ said a menacing voice but the Outsider's jaws didn't move.

"Did you talk?"

_You could say that._ the creature gave her a frightening smile. _You cannot escape me, I'll always be there. I'll always be lurking in the shadows, waiting. You and this town have three days. In three days, this town's streets will run red with the blood of my victims and there is no way you can stop me. Now wake up._ the voice said. The Outsider extended its other claws and launched them towards Tina's skull.

Tina snapped awake, breathing heavily. She looked around, everything was the way it should be, the door was still there, the Outsider wasn't. "Was that just a dream?" she asked, calming down.

_No, it wasn't. Did you forget our link? I can enter your dreams when you are not concentrating on blocking me. I told you, you can't escape me…Three days til-_

Tina blocked the monster's thoughts out. She was glad she could, she'd forgotten it was capable of doing that. She reconnected to the monster. "We will stop you, we will find a way to defeat you for good." she said in her mind before pulling out.

Jenna walked into the room, she looked scared, almost crying. "Tina, can I talk to you?" she asked.

"Yes, of course you can."

"Alright." Jenna walks into the shed. "I had a dream about that thing, the Outsider…"

"And?" Tina wondered if the Outsider had developed a way to get into Jenna's mind as well but it was unlikely.

"It…It killed Balto in my dream. It stabbed him in the chest and then threw him hard against a mountain side…then he just laid there, bleeding in the snow…It all seemed so real. It was terrifying." The last thing Jenna wanted was for her mate to die, she was always so afraid of losing him, she loved him so much.

"It was just a dream Jenna. I know it scared you but it was just a dream. You're afraid the Outsider might kill him so you had a nightmare. There is no reason to be scared of your dream. Theoretically the Outsider can't kill Balto because I would then never meet your descendent to learn about him, then I'd never of stopped at Balto's statue, it wouldn't of caught me and been struck by lightning and we wouldn't of came back and it couldn't kill him, it would cancel itself out in what's called a time paradox which is supposed to be impossible…Unless…"

"Unless what? If there is something tell me."

"Me and the Outsider changed the past just by coming back, it might be able to kill Balto without threatening itself and your dream might have been a premonition." she didn't want to say that but she didn't want to lie.

Jenna gasped. Just the thought of losing her mate terrified her. "So Balto might die?" she started crying.

"Jenna, there's a good chance that isn't the chase."

"But it could happen right?!" Jenna was upset.

Tina didn't want to answer but she had to. "Yes…it could."

Jenna was confused and upset. "I need to think for awhile." she said and dashed out of the shed.

"Jenna! Wait!" Tina yelled after her. Tina went into the house and nudged Balto. "Wake up, something's happened." she said.

Balto woke up and looked at her with a yawn. "What happened?" he asked.

"Jenna ran off."

"What? Why?"

"She was scared because she had a nightmare about the Outsider killing you and I tried to calm her down but I just made things worse." Tina started to cry. "If anything happened to her, its my fault."

"No, calm down. We have to find her."

"Your right. Where would she go?"

Balto looks out the window at the hill overlooking Nome, it was lit up with an aurora. "I think I know."

Tina nodded but then got a shocked look. "Oh no. The Outsider, its near there."

"Then we better get to her before it does."

Jenna looked at the beautiful aurora emanating from the broken bottles laying nearby with a lantern shining on them. Tears ran from her eyes and melted through the snow below her head. "Balto…" she said. So many things ran through her mind. The Outsider could kill her mate, she'd had a nightmare about that, dreams could show the future, she knew that. Part of her wanted to be mad at Tina for bringing that monster back but she knew Tina didn't deserve that, Tina wanted to stop that creature more than anyone. "You can't die Balto, you just can't." she said, crying. She couldn't bare to lose Balto, he meant everything to her. Without him what chance did they have to stop that beast? If he died, so would Nome and the family Jenna loved so much. She hadn't had pups but according to Tina she was supposed to…with Balto. If Balto died, those pups would never be born, there lives were on the line even if they hadn't gotten life yet. "I won't let this monster do that, I'll kill it myself if I have to." She heard something behind her. She looked but nothing was there. "W-who's there? Balto? Tina? Is that you?" She was getting frightened. Was it Steele? Was it…that monster? Both thoughts scared her. She looked all over the hill side, she couldn't find anything. She looked back to the aurora and calmed down a little. She felts the vibrations in the ground of something large landing behind her. She ran forwards and looked back. A look of terror went across her face.

The Outsider looked over the dog in front of it. It was aggravated, it had thought Jenna was Tina, it was incapable of pinpointing Tina's location as accurately as she could it and Tina and Jenna's similar appearance confused it. Still, it had began a hunt, it was programmed not to, back at the lab it was painfully shocked for doing that. It took a slow step forward, a clip proceeded its metal claws extending.

Jenna's eyes locked on the metal claws gleaming in the moonlight, she could see old bloodstains on the blades, she didn't want her blood to join them. She rushed in the opposite direction, through the aurora but she realized too late it was a dead-end. She looked at the creature for a second before closing her eyes. "I'm sorry Balto." she said, expecting to feel the monster's blades stabbing into her in a moment but nothing happened. She opened her eyes to see the Outsider looking across the hillside, looking for her despite being in plan sight. It couldn't see her for some reason. She thought about running but whatever was blocking her from view would very likely fade if she did. The monster growled angrily. It stepped forwards but the moment its head enter the aurora it leapt backwards out of it with a roar of pain. Jenna was intrigued by this, did the aurora hurt it somehow?

The Outsider rubbed its eyes for a second. It let out a furious roar. It knew its prey was there, it could smell Jenna, hear her heartbeat but it couldn't see her. It looked around before its eyes locked on the lantern. It walked over and picked it up. The aurora faded and Jenna became visible to it. It smiled. It knew most organisms would laugh at this time, it wondered if it could. It went through images it saw through Tina, it only knew what she saw when she wasn't blocking it out. It remembered a movie scene, from it it also reconized the dog before it.

Jenna gasped as the monster smiled. It opened its mouth, Jenna expected a roar but instead was greeted by a far more disturbing sound. The Outsider laughed but the laugh sounded…like Balto's only warped in a evil manner so that it was just so disturbing. Jenna ran as the monster crushed the lantern in its claws like tissue, she knew it could easily do that to her skull. She ran as fast as she could. She looked down at Nome, the place she normally felt safe in, she wanted to run into town but knew the monster could follow her and attack then, she'd be dooming her family. She ran into the wilderness.

Jenna ran for what she thought was hours, her paws hurt, she was breathing heavily but she kept running, she was so scared but more for her loved ones than herself, she couldn't imagine how Balto would react if that monster killed her. She finally stopped and collapsed, breathing hard. It was a few moments before she could stand. She looked around, she wasn't too far from Nome, she was on the end opposite of the place she started, she'd reach Balto's boat before Nome, that was fine with her. She started to walk back to Nome. Something grabbed her by the hind leg and took her into the air. To her terror, she looked into the Outsider's evil eyes. She couldn't read anything in those eyes but pure cruelty and evil. It let out another warped laugh that mocked her mate's and threw her. She slammed hard into a tree and let out a loud yelp. She landed on the ground as it approached. For a second she thought about playing dead before remembering what the monster did to its victims. She looked up at it as she heard the click as its claws extended. She whimpered as it lifted its weapon into the air and drove it forwards. She closed her eyes and awaited her death. When she didn't die she opened her eyes. The monster had stopped inches from her snout, she could smell the blood on them. It wasn't looking at her, she followed its gaze and found Tina standing nearby.

"Let her go Outsider! Its me you want." said Tina, hopping the monster would chase her.

The Outsider looked at Tina for a second. Its head snapped back to Jenna. Its claws retracted and it pointed to her before roaring in her face. It then turned and ran after Tina who ran off.

Jenna was still shocked, she was inches from dieing but it wanted a chance to kill Tina over taking her life. Its massage was clear though. It was saying 'You got lucky'. She knew now where the smell of rotten meat back in the cave came from, the monster's breath. Balto ran up to her, worry obvious on his face. He nuzzled her lovingly. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"I think so." she said. She tried to stand and walk but her front ankle gave out and she went face first into the snow. She tried again with the same result, this time with a little pain in her ankle. She growl. "Why does this keep happening to me?"

Balto would of laughed if it wasn't such a serious moment. He helped her up and let her lean on him. "Lets get you back to Nome."

"But what about Tina?"

"She'll be fine, she has more experience with this monster than we do. She'll meet us back at the boat." It was sunrise when they got within view of Balto's boat. "Do you want to rest on the boat for awhile?" he asks.

"Yes." replied Jenna, her ankle was hurting pretty bad.

Tina came running up, breathing hard. "Ok, I lost it in the woods and I'm guessing it headed back to its lair with the sun rising." she said once she caught her breath.

"Sorry for running out like that."

"I can't blame you for that. Its fine." Tina thought for a second. "I think its important for us to fully trust each other, there is something else I've been keeping from you but this a far more joyous thing."

"What is it?" asked Balto, hopping for some good news.

Tina walked back to where Balto and Jenna's prints lay in the snow. She put her paw between the two sets of prints, when she lifted it, what they saw shocked Balto and Jenna. Tina's paw print looked more like Balto's than Jenna's and was larger than Jenna's. Tina giggled. "Big paws run in my family."

Balto's eyes went wide when he heard that, he remember saying the same thing months ago to Jenna. "You're part wolf aren't you?"

Tina nodded with a smile. "Yes, I got it from my great, great, great grandfather and I got my looks from his mate."

Balto and Jenna looked at each other then at Tina, then they realized what she meant. "Balto, she has your eyes." said Jenna, still in a little shock.

Balto looked in a puddle nearby at his own eyes then at Tina's, sure enough they were the same. "We're your ancestors?" he asked.

Tina nodded and reared her head skywards before letting out a howl, not like the mocking howl Steele would sometimes do but a true wolf's howl…

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Yes, Tina is related to Balto. Next time we have some fights. See you then! 


	9. Rivals

Hello, today we learn some more about Tina, a eere secret about the Outsider, and we see Steele again. As you can guess from his last appearence, Steele isn't in the best mood. Enjoy!**

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**Rivals**

**Nome, Alaska, 7 am;**

Tina finished her howl and walked over to her ancestors. "Yeah, the descendent I was talking about was my mom. She was so proud to be related to you and so am I." she said.

Balto was a little shocked but Jenna wasn't. "I'm glad to hear it. I guess that explains why you look so much like me." said Jenna.

Balto nodded. "Yeah…I know this is supposed to be happy but that monster is still on the loose…Tina if you're my descendent, what would happen if the Outsider killed me or Jenna?" he asked.

Tina cocked her head a little confused. "Well I'm not sure. Ether I'd simply disappear from existence or nothing because I'm not in the future so changes to the timeline might not effect me, that and it would make a time paradox." she said.

"A what?"

"A time paradox, lets see how do I explain this? Well if the Outsider killed one of you, you wouldn't have pups and as such my ancestors wouldn't be born and nether would I. If I was never born the Outsider wouldn't be linked to me and couldn't come back in time. If it never came back in time, it couldn't kill you and I would be born and it would come back and kill you, stopping me from being born, stopping it from killing you-"

"Alright, I get the point, you're starting to make my head hurt." Balto rubbed his head with his paw to show it.

"I know, time travel can do that to you." she smiled a little.

Jenna smiled in response. "We will stop that thing, I'd rather die than let it kill my family." she said bravely.

"Same goes for me, backing down isn't something that works for me." said Balto.

Tina nodded. "Right, I've had that monster connected to me for a long time, I won't stop until that thing is beaten for good." she said. She saw Jenna's injured paw. "What happened?"

Jenna was confused for a second before she followed Tina's gaze to her hurt ankle. "Oh, the Outsider threw me, I guess I landed hard on this paw." she said.

"Well lets get onto the boat and I'll check you out, I know a few medical facts, this big brain of mine comes in handy sometimes." Tina smiled.

"Thank you."

The three begin to walk toward the boat again. "So Tina, how do you feel about being part wolf?" asked Balto, curious.

Tina laughed. "Well interesting question. I am very proud to be part wolf, even if its rather small. I wish I was more wolf, maybe Damien wouldn't of picked me up if I looked like a wolf pup." said Tina with a laugh.

Balto smiled a little. "Yeah, though a good human might of not wanted you ether."

"I'd rather have no one than a psychopath and a homicidal genetic freak."

"Point taken."

They get up on the deck and lay Jenna down. Tina looks over Jenna's ankle, it was a little swollen. Tina felt it with her paw, Jenna winced a little, it hurt a good bit. Tina continued and when she stopped she gave Jenna a smile. "Don't worry, its not broken, it will be sore for awhile but you'll be fine."

Jenna smiled. "That's good." she said.

Balto nuzzled his mate. "I'm so glad you're safe, it could have been a lot worse." he said. He was about to say something else when something hit him rather hard in the side. He went skidding across the deck, his shoulder getting cut up from splinters. He got up to find Steele standing where he was moments earlier. Steele's white fur was still tinted pink from Tina and Jenna's prank. "What are you doing here?"

Steele growled. "Well I waited all night for you to come sleep so I could kill you but you didn't show up." he said.

Jenna's eyes went wide, she was afraid Steele would try that. "That's low, even for you." she said.

Steele ignored her and charged Balto. Balto tried to get out of the way but his injured shoulder prevented him from being fast enough. He braced himself for the impact. Steele collided with Balto, who stood his ground and pushed back. Steele bit down on Balto's shoulder. Balto returned the favor.

"Balto!" said Jenna as she tried to rise but her ankle hurt too much.

"Jenna, you relax, I'll hel-" said Tina her eyes went wide as she was interrupted by the Outsider's mental voice.

_Hello traitor. I am going to share a little secret with you, you know how you think you've lost some of your memories? You didn't lose them, I stole them._ said the evil voice.

"Tina, what's wrong?" asked Jenna, something was wrong.

"The Outsider is talking to me, it can do that through the link." said Tina. "What do you mean 'stole them'?" she asked in her head.

_Just that, I took your memories, they are in my mind to use as I chose, did you enjoy that bit of your past I gave you while I was in the time stream?_ asked the Outsider.

Tina gasped. "That was you? You gave me that nightmare? Why?"

_I can taste you fear, it is quite a wonderful taste. Now I'm going to give you a bit of info that will give you a new idea of your 'heroic ancestor'._

Tina's eyes went wide before they closed and she collapsed, unconscious. "Tina? Are you alright?" asked Jenna, very frightened.

Steele snapped his head to the side and threw Balto across the deck. Balto quickly got up. "Half-breed, do yourself a favor and just let me kill you."

"I don't want to fight you Steele." replied Balto.

"Then I'll just tear you apart." Steele charged at Balto, Balto jumped to the side to avoid him then drove his head into Steele's ribs. Steele fell to the deck but got up quickly. "I thought you said you didn't want to fight."

"I don't but that doesn't mean I won't if I have to. This is your last warning, if we fight I won't hold back this time."

"Nether will I."

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Balto leapt on Steele and clawed him across the face, leaving a bleeding cut. Steele replied with a swipe of his own, with a similar result. Balto bit down on Steele's leg and yanked it out from under Steele. He pinned Steele to the deck and bit Steele's shoulder. Steele rolled Balto over and tried to bite Balto's throat. Balto avoided the bite and kicked Steele hard with his hind legs. Steele fell off him and Balto latched his jaws onto Steele's back. Steele growled and reached around. He bit Balto's hind leg and threw him, ripping off a sizeable chuck of his own fur in the process. Balto slammed into the deck rather hard. He didn't stay down. Steele growled and charged. Balto bit into Steele's shoulder and used Steele's momentum to throw him. Steele landed near the edge of the deck and got up. Balto ran forwards and slammed into Steele's side, sending the larger dog falling off the deck. Balto flinched as Steele hit the ground hard. Balto looked over and saw Steele laying motionless below, his chest still moved with his breaths, Balto was glad he hadn't killed another dog. "Don't say I didn't warn you." he said, breathing heavily. He walked over to Jenna and looked at Tina. "What happened to her?"

"I don't know, she said the Outsider was talking to her through the link then she just passed out." said Jenna, worried.

Tina's eyes snapped open and she got up, strangely smiling. "Your plan backfired, you've just made me love Balto even more, you should of stopped earlier than that." she told the Outsider through the link, she blocked it out before it could respond.

"What happened?" asked Balto.

"Well turns out I didn't lose my memories, the Outsider stole them. It was the reason I had that nightmare to my puppyhood, it used the memory to scare me. It tried again just now but it backfired."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you, you see, it was trying to make me hate you but it backfired big time."

_Flashback_

Tina's child self lay were her father left her, badly hurt and crying. "Why papa? What did I do?" she cried.

"Tina? Where are you sis?" called a voice. In a few seconds, a white husky pup moved into the pup's view, it was her brother Alex. He looked at her and his eyes went wide. "Mom, Tina's here, she's hurt." he yelled before running over to his crying sister. "Tina, who did this to you?"

Tina looked at him and cried. "Daddy did this, I don't know why but he did."

Alex looked rather surprised but he went to help his sister up, not caring that her blood stained his white pelt. "Don't worry Tina, we'll get you help."

Tina's mother and her siblings came over, all quite scared. "Oh no, Tina, kids, help Alex with your sister." ordered the mother. The pups all came to help their hurt sister. The followed their mother back to where they lived.

Tina was quiet for a little bit except for her sobbing. She finally decided to talk. "Momma, why did daddy do this to me?" she asked, confused and upset.

Her mother sighed. "Well you see we're part wolf, he just found that out and he doesn't like it."

Tina cocked her head. "Part wolf?"

"Yes, you're great, great, great grandfather was a half wolf named Balto."

Tina looked angry. "I hate him, why'd he have to be half wolf? Make daddy hate us."

"Don't say that. You're father is at fault here. Our ancestor was a dog to be proud of. He saved an entire town in 1925, all out of the goodness in his heart."

Tina's eyes lit up. "Really? So we're related to a hero?" she was excited now.

"Yes, it's a really nice story."

"Tell us please?" Tina wanted to hear it, she was a pup, her curiosity outweighed the sadness and hurt.

Tina's siblings joined in asking. "Alright." said their mother with a chuckle. "It all started in Nome, Alaska in 1925..."

_Flashback end_

"So my mom told me my first story about you that night. I wouldn't have gotten through that without it." said Tina, smiling.

Balto was surprised some. "Glad I helped you" he said with a smirk.

"Tina…was Alex the one that…died?" Jenna asked, cautious not to upset Tina.

Tina nodded. "Yes, we were playing and I got in the road. He pushed me out of the way of a coming car, he saved my life at the cost of his own. I'm not upset about it any more. I blamed myself but I know it wasn't my fault."

Jenna nodded. "I'm glad of that. Can we head to Rosy's now?" she asked, she yawned a little, that was a very tiring ordeal…

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Another chapter down, as you can see, the Outsider messed up. Steele isn't done yet, he'll be back to cause more trouble later. Next chapter we have something you've probably wanted to see Balto vs. the Outsider part one! 


	10. Balto and the Beast

Hello everyone, I'm sorry I'm a day late, I had to think this out so its as good as the last fight, actuelly its a lot longer. If you haven't read it yet, I've posted another Balto fic, a one shot, please enjoy it. Also, if any of you are members of BaltoSource, would this fic be acceptable over there? If you've never been there and would like to, there's a link on my profile page or just google search Balto and I'd highly suggest it to all Balto fans. Anyway onto the reason you came here, enjoy!**

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**Balto and The Beast**

**Nome Alaska,** **8 am;**

Balto stood in the shed behind Rosy's house, Jenna slept in her bed, the humans thought she'd spent the whole night there with Balto. Balto couldn't get it out of his mind how close he was to losing his beloved mate. The Outsider was literally inches from taking Jenna away from him forever. He looked at Tina. "Thank you for saving her Tina." he said.

Tina was looking out the door at the sky. "No problem." she said, not looking at him.

"Something wrong?"

"It's a cloudy day."

"So?"

"The Outsider might be nocturnal but it can come out on a cloudy day, its near were we found the bear right now."

Balto nodded, at least it wouldn't attack yet. He had to stop that monster before it hurt anyone else. He thought over his options, pretty much they were, fight or flight. He looked at Jenna, her ankle was a little swollen even though it wasn't broken. He was so close to losing her, she meant everything to him. He turned to Tina. "I chose fight." he said.

"What?"

"I'm going to fight the Outsider." Balto took off out the door before Tina could argue.

Tina got ready to go after him but looked back at Jenna, she didn't want Jenna to wake up with no one there ether. She ran over a nuzzled Jenna. Jenna woke rather quickly. "Tina? What going on?" she asked

"Balto's gone." said Tina, worried.

"What do you mean?"

"He went to fight the Outsider, alone."

A chill went done Jenna's spine and she got a worried expression. Her nightmare flashed through her mind. "Oh my gosh, we have to go after him." she tried to get up but pain shot through her ankle when she tried to stand and she fell back down.

"Jenna, I'll go, I know where it is and you'd only slow me down in your condition. No matter what happens, I'll bring him back."

Jenna wanted to go find her mate but Tina was right, she would just slow them down. "Alright, be careful."

"I will."

"…Can he beat it on his own?"

Tina sighed. "I don't know, its strong and durable but it isn't nearly as quick as he is. If he can outmaneuver it, he might win." Tina truly thought Balto could beat the Outsider, he was her hero, in her mind there was nothing he couldn't do but the scientific side the humans had put in her mind said there was no way on earth he could win.

Balto ran through the snow and ice. One thing was on his mind, protecting what mattered to him most, his family and friends, he wouldn't let them die, even at the cost of his own life. That was a bet he'd always make, his own life was of little importance if someone dear to him would be saved by his sacrifice. There was no fear in his mind, he didn't let it, if it was there, he wouldn't be at his best for the fight he was going to have. "I won't let it win, that monster won't beat me." he told himself.

The Outsider looked at the dead bear again, seeing how much it had decayed and such, it didn't know cold could slow down decay, it documented it to memory. It extended its claw and checked it over, making sure it was free of scratches and such, it didn't care about the bloodstains. It let out its newly acquired laugh as it looked at the bloodstains on its blades before retracting them. Balto jumped into the clearing and looked at the monster with a growl. It looked back and cocked its head. It identified Balto from the movies Tina had seen, it knew who he was but didn't make a move. Tina was a threat to it, Jenna had been hunted by mistake but it had started hunting her so it had to kill her now. Balto hadn't been encountered or attacked it yet, it wouldn't attack unless he did.

Balto glared into the monster's eyes, seeing the same evil stare they always had. "You have threatened my friends and family, you almost killed the one that matters to me the most! I'm going to bring you down even if I have to go down with you." he threatened.

The Outsider replied with its sinister laughter, which needless to say, disturbed Balto a little. _Traitor, I'm going to crush your pathetic hero and I'll not give you the privilege to watch it!_ it told Tina through the link, it then blocked out its senses from Tina's access, she could sense what was going to happen. It took a fighting stance and let out a piercing roar.

Balto bared his teeth, let out a howl, and charged the genetic demon. The Outsider swung around and tried to strike Balto with its long tail. He leapt over the tail and landed on the monster's back. He bit down on the back of its neck and began battering it with his paws. The creature didn't feel Balto's bite but it felt the impacts of his paws, that was another chink in its armor, blunt force impacts weren't as defended against as other types of attacks. It growled and brought its tail around, it wrapped around Balto's torso before tossing him off. The monster turned and snarled. It did a huge jump and tried to land on Balto with its feet. Balto quickly got up and ran out of the way. When the Outsider hit the ground, its impact created a small crater from its great weight. It turned around and let out a roar before charging. Balto met its charge with his own. He tried to leap over its back but the monster expected this and ducked, bringing its tail up and hitting Balto's shoulder. He fell to the ground with a grunt of pain, it felt like a whip had struck him, he could feel a welt start to rise. The Outsider brought its tail down on Balto's side a few times with the same result. Balto couldn't help but let out a yelp of pain. He rolled out of the way of another strike from the whip like tail. He bit down on the tail tip and pulled back. The Outsider let out an agitated snarl and pulled its tail back. Balto's paws slid but he just pulled back. The Outsider extended its claws and pulled its tail back with great force. Balto went flying towards it. His eyes went wide as he looked at the claws he was speeding towards.

Thunder roared throughout the battlefield. The Outsider instantly retracted its claws and looked up. Balto was surprised at this but took advantage and put his hind legs out in front. When he hit the monster's chest he kicked out and landed a few feet back. The Outsider finally staggered back a few feet. Balto charged forwards and head butted it in the stomach. The Outsider doubled over and coughed, the air driven from its lungs. Balto sprung up and struck the Outsider in the jaw with his head. The monster finally fell to the ground but Balto staggered back and shook his head. It was hurt him some to strike the monster's metal jaw bone with only a thin layer of skin covering that part of the Outsider's body. He cleared his head and charged the monster again. This time the Outsider caught him as it stood up and quickly threw him into the air before driving him to the ground. Balto's ribs hit a patch of stone on the ground and he let out a cry of pain. The Outsider did a running kick into Balto's ribs knocking him a few feet away. Balto coughed and hacked, trying to catch his breath, he knew a few of his ribs had been bruised but he managed to stand up. The Outsider cocked its head in confusion. It moved its mouth as if trying to make words. It did so a few more times. "W--…---'t…-o-…--e" it said, the missing letters imposable to understand, none the less it smiled.

Balto's eyes went wide. "Did you talk?" he asked, shocked.

The Outsider smiled more and tried again. "W-y…wo-'t…yo-…die." it said, the massage was clear though.

Balto was surprised but laughed as best he could despite his bruised ribs. "You'd really get along with Steele." he said.

The Outsider let out a roar and charged. It swung its hand downward at Balto's skull but he avoided it. It swung its other hand around but he got out of the way again. He backed up against and low tree limb. He remembered something from his encounter with that bear a few months ago. He backed up more and bent the limb before waiting for the monster to approach. It ran at him and he got out of the way, the limb swung forwards and struck it over the head, snapping on impact but causing the Outsider to fall to the ground. Balto picked up a rock in his mouth and slammed it against the Outsider's skull, actually getting a roar of pain to come from its maw. He repeated this until finally green blood oozed from a wound on its head. He didn't like to be this brutal but this opponent required him to be. The Outsider snarled in rage and caught Balto's throat as he tried to bring the rock down again. It rose to its feet and threw Balto, he slammed hard into a tree, he yelped but didn't lose consciousness. He got back to his feet. He could tell the monster was getting angry, he didn't know if that was good or bad. He waited for it to charge and get close enough before jumping over it. It slammed through the tree but swung its tail around and into Balto's already injured ribs. He fell to the ground with a groan. He got up as quick as he could and turned back to the monster, he was in a lot of pain but he wouldn't give up as long as he could stand. The monster was slightly injured from going through a tree but was down. It brought its hand up and into Balto's bottom jaw, sending him falling onto his back. He shook it off and got to his feet again before being kicked in the ribs again, sending him rolling across the ground until he came to a stop. He managed to get up again, despite agonizing pain in his ribs. The Outsider brought its hand down on the top of Balto's head. Balto managed to stay on his feet but blood trickled down his face, he'd been busted open. He looked at the monster, his vision blurred, he felt dizzy and staggered around before falling to the ground. He tried to rise but couldn't. He looked up as the monster approached and laughed evilly as it extended its metal claws. Balto lost consciousness as the beast rose its weapon to the sky…

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Ohh, cliffhanger, does Balto live? You'll have to wait till next week to find out. Can anyone guess why the Outsider retracted its claw when it heard thunder? Anyway see you soon! 


	11. Saving a Hero

Ok, I'm a little late again but I'm here. Today we see if Balto survived the cliffhanger last chapter and learn some more about the Outsider, also Steele gets another embearessment thanks to Tina. Enjoy!

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**Saving a Hero**

**Alaskan Wilderness, midday;**

The Outsider looked down on Balto's unconscious form as it prepare to end his life. It's claws drove downwards but stopped right before the entered Balto's skull. It snapped around to find Tina standing there. "Leave him alone!" she yelled, wanting more than anything to defend her hero. The Outsider looked back to Balto and roared just like it had at Jenna, pretty much saying 'you got lucky'. It turned back to Tina and let out a roar. It charged at her and tried to slash her with its claw. She leapt out of the way and got between it and Balto. The monster turned to look at her. It let out a massive roar. Suddenly there was a snapping sound, it turned around as a tree fell on it's head. It fell to the ground, knocked out and pinned under the tree.

Tina smiled, the Outsider's claw had cut through a tree as she'd planned. She turned to Balto and her smile vanished. He was battered and bleeding, she cried some. She had to get him back to Nome, she'd promised Jenna. She managed to get him onto her back and moved as fast as she could. She couldn't believe her hero had lost, she knew it had been likely but she'd had so much faith in Balto, that he'd be able to put an end to that genetic demon but he wasn't. "He lost…" she said softly, in disbelief somewhat.

**Nome, 9:30 pm;**

Jenna paced the shed floor back and forth. Before Tina left to help Balto, she'd told her that if Balto was alright, her and Balto would howl but if something was wrong, only Tina would. Jenna dreaded that she'd hear only one, so much that the pain from her hurt ankle didn't even register in her mind, only the pain in her heart did. "Please be alright Balto, you've got to be, I need you…" she said, worry going through her mind. If Balto was dead, what would she do? The Outsider would come to destroy Nome, her family would die, if that happened, she'd have nothing to live for. She tried to take her mind off it, thinking of the pups her and Balto were going to have, wondering what they'd be like, would they be brave like him? Her mind wondered back to the possibility Balto wasn't coming back, no matter how hard she tried her mind kept going back to that. She started crying, her heart ached, hoping her love would come back. Her ears perked as she heard something, a howl, it was Tina's. She listened hopefully for Balto's but heard nothing for a few minutes until Tina's howl once again broke the silence. Her heart sank. "Balto…" she said softly and ran out the door.

Tina struggled on but she was so tired. She looked back at Balto, he was still unconscious. Her joints were stiff from cold and fatigue, she knew Balto had to be freezing if he was still alive. She wiped the possibility he wasn't alive anymore out of her mind. "Hang on Balto, we're almost there." she said, more to reassure herself. They'd just past Balto's boat, they were almost in Nome, Tina hopped Jenna was coming to help.

Jenna ran through town, not even feeling her throbbing ankle through the agony her heart was going through. She finally reached Balto and Tina, her heart broke when she saw Balto. "No…" she said as tears surged into her eyes. She looked at her battered and beaten mate, crying hard. "What happened?" she asked, very upset.

Tina collapsed and panted hard for a few seconds, she was so tired her whole body ached. "He lost…" she said, disbelief still in her voice.

Jenna managed to pull herself together, she understood how terrible it had to be for Tina, she believed Balto could do anything, he was her hero, Jenna couldn't imagine how Tina must of felt, having her hopes and her hero crushed. "Is he…is he alive?" she managed to ask, dreading the answer would be no.

"I don't know…I'm too cold to feel his pulse. I managed to stop the Outsider from killing him but enough damage may of already been done." replied Tina shivering. She managed to get up and stagger towards Jenna house.

Jenna quickly put part of Balto's weight onto her own back, managing to help Tina support him and take some of her stress off her. She helped carry Balto through the streets. She glanced at his head, blood had stopped coming from his wound but his face was covered in it. She winced but didn't look away. "Please just survive..." she said quietly.

Steele walked up, an evil smile on his face. "Well, what happened? Half-breed get in a fight with a grizzly?" he asked jokingly.

Jenna looked over her shoulder with a deep snarl that made Steele back up a little bit. "This is the worst possible time. There is something very dangerous out there, Balto tried to stop it, he couldn't." she said, pinning her ears back and baring her teeth to Steele.

"Well then maybe I should put him out of his misery."

"Touch him and you'll regret it."

"Who's going to make me? You?" Steele let out a laugh.

"No, the Outsider will." said Tina.

"What's that? Another dog?"

"Worse, it's a monster and its what did this to Balto."

Steele would of laughed but he knew himself just how much it took to do that to Balto. "Well a monster huh? Well I guess this half-breed already proved he can't stop it so he isn't really useful anymore is he?"

Tina looked at Jenna. "Looks like he isn't backing off, I guess I'll have to take a page from your book." she whispered. She moved out from under Balto and looked at Steele, she batted her eyelids flirtatiously. "Now come on Steele, are you sure you won't reconsider? I might reconsider your earlier offer of a date if you do." she said, flirting to Steele and nudging him slightly, backing him up.

Jenna didn't understand until she saw where Tina was luring Steele, a sly smile crossed her face. Steele fell for it, he thought she was hitting on him. "Well I guess maybe I could." he said.

"Of course but there's something else you could do for me…" said Tina, keeping Steele under her spell.

"What is it?"

Tina looked behind Steele and got ready. "You can…have a nice fall!" she said and pushed her weight up into Steele chest. Steele hadn't noticed Tina had backed him onto a rather high porch, which he now fell off of. There was loud crash as he landed on an overturned trash can, his mass crunching it. He let out a howl of pain as his ribs were still injured from the fall from Balto's boat and suffered worse injury. Tina looked down, anger in her eyes. "I'm going to warn you Steele, I know this monster better than anyone. If we stand any chance of stopping it we need Balto alive or its going to get to town and it will show no mercy to anyone, everyone will die. If you can't leave him alone for that, do it for the only thing you really care about, yourself! I'm going to tell you something about this monster, it has claws that can tear clean through six inches of solid metal like its tissue paper, can you imagine what they'd do to flesh and bone!" she warned. She went back to Jenna and helped her carry Balto while Steele tried to dislodge himself.

"Good thing Steele is too stupid to realize it was a trap, again." said Jenna before looking back to Balto, wondering if he was still able to fight that monster.

Meanwhile in Balto's mind, he'd given up hope. His mental plane resembled the last time he'd lost the will to go on, the bottom of that cliff. He didn't know whether or not he was still alive or dead, even if he was awake or asleep, he just laid in the snow, his paw over his eyes, crying. "I'm sorry Jenna, Rosy, I couldn't stop it, I let you all down and now Nome is doomed." he said, depressed. He wanted to get up and somehow get back to Nome but he just couldn't muster up the willpower to. His ears perked, he heard something. He removed his paw from his eyes and looked up. Standing in front of him was the same white wolf from before. She pointed her head skywards and let out a long, majestic howl and looked at him, expecting a howl in return. This time Balto didn't hastate, he got up, shook the snow off, and let out a long howl of his own.

Aniu looked proudly at her son and let out a howl along with him. She couldn't tell him she was his mother, it wasn't time for that yet. She looked at him. "Hello do you remember me?" she asked.

Balto nodded. "Yes I do, thank you for helping me so much…am I still…" he asked, wondering if he was still alive.

"Alive? Yes you are but unconscious." Aniu replied, she understood why Balto thought he might have been dead.

Balto smiled slightly. "That's a relief." he said but then lowered his head. "I can't stop that monster, I did everything I could but I just couldn't beat it."

Aniu shook her head. "Do you remember what your friend told you before you headed out on your own that night?"

Balto looked surprised. "You know about Boris?"

"I know many things."

"Alright. He told me 'A dog cannot make this journey alone but maybe a wolf can.'" he quoted.

Aniu nodded. "Yes, that was true for that journey but not this one. Nether part of you is strong enough to beat this creature, you will need help this time. Now awake, you need to get back to the ones that care for you." she said and let out a howl.

Balto groaned as he regained consciousness. He expected to see the frozen wilderness he fought the Outsider in and feel pain and cold but instead saw a lit fireplace, he was warm. He felt a weight on top of him, he looked over to see that his mate was partly laying on him, warming him with her own body as she did before. She saw him and her face lit up. "Balto! You're alive!" she said and nuzzled him repeatedly. "You almost gave me a heart attack, thank goodness you're alive."

Jenna got off him and Balto tried to sit up but pain shot through his injured ribs and he felt dizzy. He looked at his ribs, they were taped up. "What happened? How'd I get back here?" he asked.

"Tina saved you, she carried you all the way back to Nome."

Balto looked at Tina who set a little bit away from him. "Thank you, you're stronger than you look." he said.

Tina blushed slightly. "I guess we're even huh?" she asked.

"Even…Tina can the Outsider talk?"

Tina cocked her head. "Well its able to talk but it doesn't know how."

"Yes it does, during our fight, it asked me 'Why won't you die?' it was hard to understand but I got the message."

Tina looked shocked. "This isn't good, its learning."

"Learning? It can do that?" asked Jenna.

"Yes, its designed to absorb information from any source, to better itself."

"Like it wasn't tough enough." said Balto, managing to sit up with a slight whimper.

"It gets worse, the longer its alive outside the enclosed laboratory, the more it grows, if we don't stop it soon, it will metamorphosis."

"What?"

"It will transform into a more powerful form."

Jenna's eyes went wide. "More powerful?! That monster could already wipe the whole town off the map."

"I know, it shouldn't evolve before it attacks, we have to stop it before then." said Tina, a serious expression on her face.

"We will win, but I can't do this alone." said Balto, his normal smile on his face.

"Well before we make up a plan to stop the Outsider, there's a family in the other room that is very worried." said Jenna. "Rosy and her parents helped bandage you up but Rosy cried the whole time, it broke her heart seeing you so beat up, same with me." said Jenna, nuzzling Balto before the two of them went into the next room to be with Rosy.

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Well there you go, the Outsider is getting more powerful but our heroes need a plan to stop it. See you next time! 


	12. Healing the Wounds

Ok, sorry I'm late but I was busy. Today Steele finally gets a massure of revenge and this chapter is both pleasent and unpleasent for Balto. Enjoy!**

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**Healing Wounds**

**Nome, Alaska, 6 am;**

Balto set on the porch. Jenna and Tina were asleep, he'd had trouble sleeping because of his injuries and something on his mind. "How can we stop it?" he asked himself. He remembered the fight, the only thing that had any effect was hitting it with something, he couldn't bite through its skin. "Alright so we need to pound away at it but how can that destroy it?" he asked himself. He wished some of his other friend were in town, he needed all the help he could get, he'd even settle for Dixie. He got up with a groan and walked a little bit, thinking. "It's a living thing, it has to be able to be killed." he said to himself before coughing some from his injured ribs. "Oh man, how am I going to fight that thing again in this condition?" Suddenly something grabbed his hind leg and swung him around into an ally. He slid across the icy ground and banged his head on a trash can. He got up to find Steele standing in front of me.

"Then half-breed, I guess you won't be able to be me ether." he said. Balto took a snap at the bigger dog but Steele avoided it and struck Balto in the head with his paw. Balto yelped, his head still hurt from the concussion he'd gotten from the Outsider. Steele saw this and grabbed his leg and threw him head first into a trash can again. Balto yelped harder, he tried to stand but felt dizzy again and fell, he'd gotten another concussion. Steele laughed at Balto's pain. "I don't care about this monster or whatever it is half-breed, this town hates me so I could care less what happens to it." he said. He bit down on the bandages wrapping Balto's bruised ribs and tore them off.

"Please, stop." said Balto weakly, he was disorientated by his concussion and felt so weak.

"Now why would I do that?" asked Steele. Steele reared up on his hind legs and brought his full body weight down on Balto's ribs. Balto yelped loud in pain and coughed hard. Steele did this again, with the same reaction. Steele did this repeatedly while laughing rather psychotically until there was a rather loud snap. Balto and Steele both knew one of Balto's ribs had broken. Balto coughed harder, some blood coming up. Steele reared up to do it again.

"No!" yelled Tina as her and Jenna slammed hard into Steele's side, knocking him on his side. The two females put themselves between him and Balto, snarling and baring their teeth. "Leave him alone!"

Steele looked at the sight before him, he was still hurt from his previous fight. "This is over." he said and ran off, with another psychotic laugh.

"Thank you." wheezed Balto, he tried to stand up but couldn't even get part way off the ground before falling back down with a groan of agony. "If I can't even beat Steele, how am I supposed to stop that monster?"

Jenna was crying at seeing her mate this badly hurt. Her and Tina picked him up carefully and took him back to Rosy's house and got him taped up again. Balto rested in the living room. Tina and Jenna went outside. "What are we going to do? How can he stop that thing when he's too hurt to even stand up?" asked Jenna, disheartened.

Tina thought for a few minutes. "I know a way but its very dangerous…" she said.

"What is it?"

"The Outsider has great healing powers, it can heal almost any wound. If I can get a piece of it, I can make something that will heal Balto."

"How are you going to get a piece of that monster?"

"Well when it heals, it sheds its old skin, its shed skin will do. Don't worry it won't make Balto shed his skin, it only does that because it's a reptile. I think Balto hurt it in there fight, which is why it didn't follow us to finish him off last night."

"I'm coming with you."

"No, Balto needs someone here incase Steele comes back, I'll make it back, I promise." said Tina, she ran off out of town.

It took Tina awhile to reach the Outsider's lair. It was still sleeping so she snuck into to the cave. Despite not reacting earlier, the stench in the beast lair really made her almost throw up, she just knew how to hide it. She looked around for the shed skin, she saw it, right behind the monster. She got a little mad at her rotten luck. She snuck around. She carefully stepped into the warm waters, trying not to make much noise. She snuck behind it. As she reached for its shed skin, the creature's tail smacked the surface of the water. She froze. The monster was still sleeping, it must of just moved in its sleep. She bit down on the skin, it tasted revolting and increased her urge to throw up. The monster's tail smacked down again, this time hitting Tina's back. She wanted to yelp but managed not to despite the welt forming on her back. She snuck out of the lair, dragging the shed skin. As soon as she got out of its lair, she dropped it and threw up.

A few hours later, Tina and Jenna had Balto on his boat so no one would see what was about to happen. Tina had 'barrowed' a bowl of water from Rosy's house and tore a piece of the shed skin and dissolved it in the water, which turned bright green. She let out a sigh. "Alright, this can heal all your wounds but there's something that I didn't tell you before, the normal body is not designed to heal this quickly and as such, it will hurt, it will hurt worse than anything you've ever felt. It last take one hour to finish, in that time you will be in absolute agony, the stress could kill you." said Tina, the scientists had tested this on a US marine and it had been too much for him. "So if you want to get your family and flee Nome, I'll stay here and fight the Outsider alone." she said.

Jenna looked at Balto, she didn't want him to endure that much pain but they had to stop this monster. She nodded. "I don't want him to be in pain but that thing is going to wipe the town out if we don't stop it so I don't think we have a choice." she said.

Balto thought about it and nodded. "Same here, bring it." he said, managing to smile. Tina nodded and allowed Balto to drink the medicine. He gagged but managed not to throw up. "Oh, it tastes disgusting."

"I know, it will take a few minutes to take effect." said Tina, pinning her ears, feeling guilty she was going to put him through so much pain. Tina turned to Jenna. "This is probably going to be hard for you to watch, you don't have to stay."

Jenna looked at Balto then at Tina. She laid down next to Balto. "I'm not leaving him." she said.

It took a few minutes and Balto thought that it wasn't working until it kicked in. He grit his teeth, his muscles tightened, it took all of his willpower not to scream in pain and the only reason he didn't do that was for Jenna's sake. It felt like his ribs were being torn from his body and his skin was burning, tears of pain ran from his clinched eyes.

Jenna felt like crying herself, she wanted it to stop, she hated seeing her beloved in so much pain but knew it had to be like this. She put a paw on his back to comfort him. "Just hold on Balto, I'll be here the whole time." she said softly.

Tina on the other hand couldn't bare watching it at all. "I'll go keep a look out for Steele." she said and left. She felt ashamed for acting this way but it just hurt her so much to know she was putting her hero through unimaginable pain. "I a wimp." she said as she set in front of Balto's boat. "I should be up there, encouraging him through this but I can't." she looked down and some tears ran from her eyes. She felt someone in front of her. She looked up.

In front of her was what she first that was Aniu but then she realized it was a wolf dog, about her age, and male. "Hello sister, long time no see." said the dog.

"A-alex? Is that really you? But how?"

"In the flesh, well not exactly since I'm kind of a spirit." said Alex. "I'm your spirit guide, I'm supposed to help you. I followed you back." he said, his voice comforting. "I wish I could nuzzle you but I'm not solid at the moment."

"I missed you so much, I'm so sorry I caused your death." said Tina, crying a little.

"It wasn't your fault, I was just doing what any big brother would of done."

"Yeah, I guess. I've been beating myself up all these years and if I hadn't, then I might not be in this mess and nether would Balto and Jenna."

"Fate is harder to change than that, well you know, except when time travel is involved." he said, smiling warmly. "You need to go be with Balto, he needs you to be strong for him."

"I don't know if I can…"

"You have to be, you're a descendent of Balto, he never quit when someone he loved needed him, even if he needed someone to remind him."

"I guess your right. Thanks brother." said Tina with a smile.

"Welcome." said Alex, he let out a howl and vanished.

Tina went back up to Balto. "Come on Balto, you can do this, you have to do this." she said.

When the hour was over, the pain stopped quickly. Balto relaxed, breathing heavily from the effort it took to withstand the pain. Jenna licked his nose and nuzzled him. "Did it work?" she asked.

Balto waited till he got his energy back , which didn't take as long as he expected, before standing up, he felt as good as new, maybe even better. "Yeah, I feel a lot better, that stuff works good." he said, ripping off his bandages. "If only it didn't hurt so much."

"Yeah, that's a nasty side effect." said Tina. "Well only one thing to do now."

"Take the Outsider down."

"Right, I've got a plan, we lure it into the ice cave and use some dynamite I found in the shed outside the boiler room, the humans use it to open paths blocked by avalanches and rockslides, to trigger a cave in to trap it." said Tina.

"But what about its regeneration?" asked Jenna.

"I can use something from its shed skin to have the opposite effect, we just got to get it into its system."

"How do we do that?" asked Balto.

"I'll handle that, you just go home to Rosy and spend the time till nightfall with her. Tonight the monster will attack, the temporal storm accelerated the blizzard so it will hit tonight instead of tomorrow, we have to stop it before its too late" said Tina…

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Well there you go, Balto is as good as new and ready to take the Outsider down. Only two chapters left, probably. The final battle is fast aproching! 


	13. Rival's Last Quarrel

Alright, we are aproching the final battle. Today Balto gets pay back for last chapter. Also three characters some of you might of missed will show up, better late than never. Enjoy!**

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**Rival's Last Quarrel**

**Nome, Alaska; 9:30 pm;**

Balto licked Rosy's cheek as she was tucked into bed, as did Jenna. "Good night." she told them and hugged them both. "I'm glad you're better." she whispered to Balto.

Rosy's mother lead the dogs out of the room. "Jenna, I…I don't want you to come with me and Tina." said Balto, regrettably.

"What? Why? Balto you ne-" said Jenna, surprised.

"Your ankle is still hurt and even if we kill the Outsider, me and Tina could still die out there, someone has to be here for Rosy."

Jenna wanted to argue but knew he was right. She buried her face in his fur and sobbed. "Please don't say that, you're coming back, you promised you'd never leave me." she said, saddened.

Balto nuzzled her comfortingly. "I know I did, I hope I can keep that promise." he said.

"I'll stay here, for Rosy's sake but please, no matter what happens out there, stop that thing." Jenna said and looked up into his eyes.

Tina nudges the door open. "Balto, its time." she said.

Balto walked over while Jenna curls up in front of the fire. "Please be alright…" "Jenna's staying with Rosy." said Balto, he really didn't want to leave Jenna at home but Rosy needed someone.

Tina nodded, understandably. "I understand, I just hope we won't need her help." she said. "I got us some supplies. I got the dynamite like I said. I also got a sled to carry stuff and I 'barrowed' a syringe from the doctor to put a little surprise for the Outsider in. Remember the plan?"

"Lure that thing into the ice cave and trigger a cave in of ice to bury it…did you do something about what I noticed, with the thunder?" he asked, he'd told her earlier.

Tina nodded. "Well I turned an old radio, an umbrella, and a bunch of stuff in an old junk shed to build a transmitter and portable battery that will make a sound like thunder." This got a confused glance from Balto. "What? I have an IQ of 174 and I'm really good with my paws."

Balto chuckled. "Alright, lets go take the Outsider down."

The Outsider sensed them leaving the town. The blizzard was beginning but it was compelled to murder Tina. It calculated were they were going and found a canyon before the Ice cave they'd have to pass through. It let out a massive roar. The cracking of ice filled the air. An avalanche buries the ice cave and closes off that end of the canyon. It looked at its work and emits another disturbingly evil laugh.

Jenna laid on the floor of the shed, waiting for her beloved to return. "Please be alive." she said. The door swung open, inviting in an already fierce storm. "Balto?" she asked, perking her head.

Steele walked in, prompting a gasp from Jenna. "Well where's that useless mate of yours?" he asked, a crazed look in his eyes.

Jenna was glad Balto wasn't there. "He's gone with Tina to put an end to the Outsider." she said defiantly.

Steele laughed, almost as disturbingly as the Outsider, only this time it was because of the crazed tone of it. "That mutt couldn't hurt a flea in his condition. How does he think he can beat a monster?"

Jenna managed to smirk. "We healed him, using something from the Outsider. They're going to trap it in the ice cave."

Steele laughed again. "Didn't you hear? The path is blocked by an avalanche, they're walking into a dead end." he smiled menacingly.

Jenna looked shocked. She didn't want to believe Steele but she could see he wasn't lying. _Jenna, calm yourself down, they'll find a way to stop it anyway._ she thought to herself.

"Now Jenna, we both know the half-breed isn't coming back, come with me." Steele taunted, adding another psychotic laugh.

"It didn't work a few months ago, its not going to work now." she said.

Jenna turns around but Steele grabs her hind leg and flips her onto her back. He pins her front shoulders to the ground. "I wasn't asking." he said, snarling. He was doing this more to scare her than anything else.

It was working, Jenna was frightened, thinking of what he could do. She straggled but could break free. She realized her hind legs were free. She kicked out and connected with Steele's still injured ribs. He yelped and fell off. Jenna got up and made a dash for the door. She suddenly felt herself snap backwards, her bandana tightening. The back of her head smacked the deck. She didn't notice, adrenaline kicked in, she ran. Steele kept holding on but her bandana came undone and she got away. She ran as fast as she could through town, ignoring the raging blizzard. She stopped behind a houses, shielded from the storm, her heart racing. She groaned. She laid down and put her paws over her aching head. "Oh my head."

"Oh Jenna where are you?" asked Steele, carrying her bandana in his mouth. He couldn't find her and her scent was impossible to find in the blizzard. Jenna held her breath, she didn't even move. Steele growled, then smiled as he thought of something. "Jenna, I'm going to make sure your mate doesn't make it back!" he said with a psychotic laugh, he dashed off, he remembered the path.

Jenna let out her breath and relaxed for a minute. She covered her throbbing skull again. Her eyes snapped open as she realized something. "Oh no, Balto!" she said. She ran out after Steele.

"Jenna, where are you heading in such a rush?" said a familiar voice with a Russian accent.

She turned to see Boris waddle up. "Oh thank goodness you made it back alright." she said, relieved.

"Why wouldn't we be making it back alright?"

"Uncle Boris!" yelled Muk as he and Luk ran up and hugged Boris, almost crushing him, as per usual.

"I'd like it if you'd please be getting off me now!"

"Guys! Balto is in big trouble." said Jenna, trying to get them to settle, she needed help.

The polar bears instantly dropped Boris. He shook the snow off himself and got up. "Jenna, what is wrong?"

"I can't explain right now but Steele is after him and we need to help him, he's out in the wilderness and there is something much more dangerous out there I don't have time to explain."

"Be leading the way. Muk, Luk, come on, Balto is in trouble."

Jenna turned to lead the way when she remembered something. _That night on the hill, the Northern Lights hurt it…_ she thought.

Balto and Tina straggled against the wind and snow as they entered the canyon and it subsided. "Well we're almost there." said Balto, panting.

"Yeah, I wish we'd left earlier before the blizzard started." said Tina.

"Half-breed!" yelled Steele as he stepped forwards.

"Steele?" asked Balto confused. "We don't have time for this."

Steele laughed. "Really, well nether did Jenna." he said, thinking of a way to infuriate Balto.

Balto snarled. "If you so much as touched one hair on her head!"

"I killed her."

Balto snarled louder. "You're a liar!" said Balto, mad.

"Even a liar has to tell the truth sometimes." he said with an evil smirk.

Balto was angry, he didn't believe Steele but he knew deep down that Steele was right, even liars had to tell the truth sometimes. "I don't believe you."

Steele laughed and untied Jenna's bandana from his leg. He laid it in the snow. "Look familiar?"

Balto staggered. He felt like he'd just been punched in the gut. Jenna never took off her bandana, never except to give it to him that night. He quickly began snarling. "I'm going to rip you in half!" He leapt on Steele.

Tina rushed to help but heard that evil voice in her head. _Oh no you don't._ said the voice. Tina suddenly felt a terrible pain in her head, the worst headache she'd ever had. She fell down and put her paws over head, crying in agony. _I'll let him take care of your hero. Do you like my new power? I have to fully concentrate on the link but it should hold you till this fight ends._ Tina was in unbearable pain. He head felt like it was going to explode. Tears of pain ran down her face, she whimpered from the horrible pain.

Balto slammed into Steele and they both rolled across the ground, biting and clawing at each other. Steele kicked Balto off and lunged for his throat. Balto avoided the attack, Steele's jaws closing on the snow. Balto bit into Steele's shoulder as hard as Steele in turn bit down on his. Balto rolled Steele over. Steele released his grip and bit down on Balto's maw. Balto had no choice but to release his grip to pull himself free from Steele grip. Balto bit again, this time tearing off a piece of his ear. Steele growled in pain. He drove his head into Balto's throat. Balto coughed and staggered off Steele. Steele jumped on Balto and bit into his back. Balto twisted around and knocked him to the ground. He leapt on him and tried to bite Steele's throat. Steele kicked out with his hind legs, kicking Balto in the stomach. Even with his ribs healed, it still drove the air from his lungs and sent him to the ground in a coughing fit. "I won't give up." he said through coughing.

Steele got up and laughed psychotically. "Fine, I'll just kill you." he said. He grabbed Balto's leg and threw him. Balto rolled across the ground. He tried to stand but still hadn't recovered from the kick. Steele tackled him to the ground and stood over him. "Time to die, half-breed." he said and lowered his jaws slowly over Balto's throat. Before he could close them, he felt something bite his tail. He turned around to find Jenna. "Big mistake sweetie." he said turning his back to Balto. Balto managed to stand and bite Steele's leg. With all his strength he managed to swing Steele around and throw him. Steele's back struck the canyon wall, his head smacking hard against it. Steele fell unconscious into the snow.

Balto panted. He looked at Jenna, a smile crossed his face. "Jenna!" he said and nuzzled her lovingly. "Thanks for not listening to me." he said.

Jenna smiled and licked his on the nose. "I can't stay home while my mate is in trouble." she said.

Balto got Jenna's bandana out of the snow and slipped it around her neck. "I think this is yours." he said, smiling.

Boris and the polar bears walk up. "Balto! Glad to be seeing you in one piece." said Boris.

Muk and Luk just ran up to hug him, nearly crushing him. Tina finally forced the Outsider from her mind, stopping her agonizing headache. She smiled at Balto and his friends but then remembered the real problem. "Guys, we've still got certain problem to deal with." she said.

"Who is this Balto?" asked Boris.

"I'll explain later. She's right, we need to stop something really bad." said Balto.

"Hang on." said Jenna, she walked a short distance away and came back with a bag. She opened it to show the broken bottles.

"The Northern Lights?"

"They stopped the Outsider from killing me that one night. They seem to hurt its eyes and block its vision somehow."

"Of course, the Outsider's eyesight is amazing but that can weaken it." said Tina.

"What is this Outsider?" asked Boris.

Before Balto can respond, the Outsider's roar echoes through the canyon. They look to see the monster standing on the top of the ridge, the full moon behind it, making it a menacing silhouette as it let out another roar that sounded more like a wolf's howl. Its appearence had changed slightly, it stood with a more dog-like stance.

* * *

Alright, the stage is set for a final confrontation between our heroes and the genetic demon. The Outsider has evolved into another form but will it matter? Who will win? You'll have to wait till next time! 


	14. Win, Lose, or Draw

**Win, Lose, or Draw**

**Alaskan Wilderness, 11:30 pm;**

"That!" said Balto, getting the sled harness back on.

"I've got an idea, we need to put some distance between us and that monster." said Tina, she put on her harness and dashed with Balto deeper into the canyon, the others falling shortly behind..

Steele groggily woke up. "Alright, now I know how he felt." said Steele. He feels something big land in the snow in front of him.

The group reached the end of the canyon. "Alright, this will have to do, Jenna get those set up, there's a lantern on the sled, its lit use that." said Tina, she turned to Boris and the polar bears. "You three just hide, we can beat this thing and at the moment it has no reason to try to kill you." The three obey and hide behind a snow bank.

Steele is thrown into the clearing, rolling several times before coming to a stop. He coughs and hacks, some of his ribs shattered. The Outsider walks into the clearing, walking on all fours, its snout had lengthened to a more dog-like appearance and dog-like ears now adorned its head. "Tina, explain." said Balto, surprised by the change in the creature's appearance, as was Jenna.

"Well it considered you a worthy opponent so it most of evolved to be more like a dog." said Tina, reasonably shocked.

"Great, it got more powerful."

"I know!"

The Outsider picked Steele up with its tail and stood up to its full height. It extended it claws in front of its face. "Drop him! He might be a complete moron but he still doesn't deserve this!" yelled Balto.

The Outsider looked at him then back at Steele. It retracted its claws. "You…disappoint…me…" it said. It took Steele's front leg and slowly bent it, causing Steele to scream in pain until a loud snap was heard. Steele lost consciousness from pain. The Outsider snapped its head to the side after releasing its grip on Steele's leg. Its tail snapped sideways and toss Steele easily. It turned back to the group, all of whom were a little shocked by what it just did. It looked up at the canyon wall behind it. It leapt up and slammed its hands into the top, causing another avalanche that sealed off the section of canyon they were in. "No…way…out…but…through…me…" it said.

"You heard it, the only way out is to stop it." said Jenna, still shocked that it had broken Steele's leg like a twig.

"No matter what happens guys, we can't let this thing out of this canyon, win, lose, or draw, we've got to take it down for good." said Tina, Balto and Jenna nodded.

"I'll set up the Northern Lights." said Jenna, she rushed off to were she left the bag to find that it had been buried under a layer of snow, she couldn't find it. She quickly started digging.

The Outsider charged at Tina and Balto on all fours. It leapt at them, claws extended. They jump to the side and its claws drive into the frozen earth. It quickly retracts them and turns. It charges again, for the first time trying to bite them with its razor sharp teeth. The avoid and it gets a mouth full of snow. "Its acting more like a dog now too." said Balto.

The Outsider spits out the cold snow and charges again, moving much faster on all fours but still not as fast as they were, dodging its bite once more. It brings its hands up and hits both at once, sending them rolling across the ground. "Its getting smarter, not good." said Tina.

Jenna gasped as she looked desperately for bag. She began to lose hope until she saw the Outsider land a hit. She calmed down and sniff around for her own scent. She quickly found the bag and ran back to the sled. She saw the Outsider prepare its blades to drive into Tina. She quickly pressed her nose against a button on the machine Tina had made, guessing which on it was. A noise like thunder started sounding. The Outsider looked up and quickly retracted its blades. Jenna smiled and poured the bottles onto the ground, positioning them with her paws. She set the lit lantern behind her and stood between it and the bottles. "Hey! Outsider, come and get me!" she yelled. The Outsider snapped around to see her. It dashed forwards quickly. Jenna was scared but she managed to get the consciousness to get out of the way as the monster leapt at her. The aurora instantly shot out of the bottles and cast over the Outsider. The genetic demon roared in pain as its eyes burned from the bright light. It fell forwards, crashing face first into the bottles, drawing another screech of agony as the sharp shards drove into its eyes. It stood up and roared as it tried to get the shards out, only doing more damage to itself. "Well that worked better than I'd hoped."

Tina thought of something and ran to the sled, getting out a syringe filled with yellow liquid. She threw it at the monster's head, it broke on impact, sending the fluid running into its eyes. She jumped back, avoiding getting any on her. "What was that?" asked Balto.

"The same stuff I gave you mixed with the left over diphtheria anti-toxin from your run. The same stuff that makes it work on the virus has the effect of reversing the other medicines effect, it can no longer regenerate." said Tina with a smirk. "Oh and don't worry, I didn't mess up the time line using that."

"Who knew that night would save us now?" asked Jenna, smiling.

"Lets attack it while its still stunned." said Balto, leaping forwards and kicking off the monster's chest. The monster staggered back before Tina dashed forwards and drove her head into the monster's stomach. It gasped as it staggered. It began flailing madly in front of it, blind and not knowing were it was being attacked. Jenna got behind it and drove her head into its back. It fell forwards but caught itself. Tina drove her head into its lower jaw. It staggered back, only to be struck with a tackle from Balto. Suddenly, it stopped flailing and stood absolutely still. "What's it doing? Do it give up?"

"I'm not going to give it the chance." said Jenna, jumping at it.

"Jenna! Wait!" yelled Tina.

The Outsider twirled around and slammed its fist into Jenna's side. She went rolling across the ground for a few feet. She got up and managed to shake off the impact. "Alright what happened?"

"It's using its other senses to track us, it adapted."

"Great, how powerful is this thing going to get?" asked Balto. He ran forward and jumped at it. It spun around and caught him in midair. It threw him a good distance as Tina tried to attack it. It swung its tail around and hit her in the side, getting a yelp out of her. Jenna managed to jump on its back and bit down on its neck. It let out its disturbing laugh and grabbed her with its tail before throwing her. Balto tried to take its legs out from under it but it jumped into the air and struck him with its tail with enough force to knock him a few feet away. Tina and Jenna dashed at it from behind and jumped at it. It caught them and smacked their heads together. It threw Tina away but turned to Jenna. It knew she wasn't Tina but it was harder for her to tell without its eyesight so it decided to get rid of her. It wrapped its tail around her neck and released its hand hold, leaving her hanging by her neck. She struggled, her air being cut off. She was scared, she couldn't breathe. Balto shook off the hit he'd taken and saw his mate being strangled. He ran around and bit down on its tail. The Outsider faced its head in his direction, unable to see him, it recognized his scent. It let out a mocking laugh at him. Balto snarled and bit down harder, he kept biting down, not letting up. Jenna began to black out and Balto's jaw began to hurt but finally he felt his teeth sink in and tasted the horrid blood of the abomination. The Outsider tossed Jenna away and roared in pain as it tried to dislodge Balto.

Jenna gasped for breath, putting her paw over her throat. "That was too close." she gasped.

Tina came over. "Jenna? You alright?" she asked. She looked at Balto and saw some of the monster's green blood drip from his maw. "I don't believe it! That thing's skin can withstand bullets and he bit through! For you Jenna, that's love there."

Jenna smiled, knowing her mate had done the impossible again, for her. "You know Balto, nothing is impossible."

The Outsider struck Balto's head a few times with its fists to try and dislodge his grip. Balto felt light headed and let go, it hadn't hit him with full force. The Outsider felt and bleeding wound in its tail. It snarled and let out a furious roar. It extended its claws, despite the simulated thunder. It charged at Balto, who jumped out of the way. It's claw drove through the lantern Jenna had used, becoming lodged in it. It didn't seem to notice as it kept trying to hit Balto with its claw and unknowingly the lantern but it couldn't manage to hit Balto. It struck the cliff face after one of its misses, shattering the lantern. It's claw glowed red with heat. "Great as if it wasn't dangerous enough already." said Balto, though he was very confident now that he knew he could pierce its hide. He kept dodging. One miss drove its claw through a piece of ice on the cliff face, creating a lot of steam and cooling its claw. Balto couldn't see through the steam and the monster tried to take advantage with its claw. Jenna and Tina picked up a medium sized rock and together threw it into the monster's path. The Outsider's claw struck the rock. The steam settled to reveal…The Outsider's claw's on one hand had snapped off and driven into the snow! "What happened?" asked Balto.

"When you rapidly freeze hot metal, it gets fragile." said Tina.

"Good, we weakened it." said Jenna, smiling.

"Good, lets finish it off!" said Balto, he jumped behind the still distracted monster and pulled on its tail.

"Jenna, how's you ankle?" asked Tina.

"I'm not sure, haven't been paying attention." said Jenna, looking down at her ankle.

"Get closer to the ground please."

Jenna was confused by this request but did so. Tina stepped back before charging forwards and jumping off Jenna's back. She hit the Outsider square in the chest, combine with Balto pulling it from behind, the monster finally hit the ground. Jenna was still startled from Tina's actions but ran forwards as the monster set up and drove her head into its bottom jaw. The beast was drove down to the ground and stayed down. "Did we beat it?"

"Don't let your guard down." said Tina.

The Outsider's eye snapped open and it whipped its tail around, knocking the trio away from it. It breathed heavily. "Insolent…pests!…" it yelled.

Balto had landed beside the sled. He noticed the dynamite sticking out. He saw that despite being smashed, the lantern's fire remained lit. "Please let this work." he said lowly. He dashed to the sled and grabbed the dynamite. He ran towards the Outsider, lighting the fuse on the way. It turned towards him right as he jumped onto it. He landed his front paws on its shoulders and drove his head forwards, driving the blunt side of the dynamite into the creature's empty eye socket as deep as he could.

The Outsider launched its blade-less hand up and grabbed Balto by the throat. It lifted him off it and extended its claw. "DIE!!!" it yelled.

To Jenna everything seemed to slow down as her dream repeated itself in reality. The Outsider plunged its claw into Balto's chest, his eyes went wide and he gasped. The monster pulled its claw out and threw him, smacking his head off the mountain side and good distance away. "NO!!!" she yelled. She tried to run to him but Tina stopped.

_Your hero is dead!_ said the Outsider's warped voice in Tina's head.

"Maybe so but he was enough to take him down. Jenna get down the dynamite!" she yelled, covering hers and Jenna's heads.

The Outsider suddenly realized what was about to happen, it couldn't pull the dynamite out in time and it knew it. "Not…Over…" it said, it raised its bloody claw above its head and let out a loud roar…right as the dynamite exploded.

Jenna remained down, she wanted to rush to her mates aid but she couldn't go until the blast was over. Once it cleared, she looked up. As the dust settled, the Outsider still stood, in a pillar of fire. She looked shocked until the smoke around its upper body cleared, its head was gone. The monster's flaming corpse fell to the ground. Before it hit the ground Jenna had rushed to her mate who laid bleeding and motionless in the snow. She nudged him, crying uncontrollably. "No! You can't be gone!" She kept nudging him.

Tina walked over but stopped to look at the dead monster, she could feel its life sighs had truly vanished, they'd killed it. She walked over to Balto. Boris and the polar bears had came over and were working with Jenna to try to wake him up. "Come on Balto, don't quit on old Boris now." said Boris, shaking Balto head. Muk and Luk were shaking him too but not saying anything, they understood how bad it was.

Tina sighed, crying herself but not nearly as much as Jenna. She went over to the sled and got out the first aid kit she packed. She bandaged up the deep wound in his chest, tears streaming down her face. "Well at least he can't bleed to death now." she said. She looked up at the mound of snow and ice that the Outsider had left before dieing. There was no way they could just carry him over it. She new the polar bears had strength they had no idea they had, which was why they almost crushed Boris and Balto when hugging them but they wouldn't even be able to. She realized something. "The sled! We can get him back to Nome for help!" she said. Suddenly though the earth seem to start shaking and the ground beneath the Outsider collapsed, an underground cave had been destabilized by the explosion and now opened like a massive maw to swallow the blazing corpse. The fissure kept going and stopped half way under the sled. Tina ran over and grabbed a rope on it. Muk and Luk came over and tried to pull it back. They tugged and tugged. It was almost to the point it would stop swaying towards the abyss…when the rope snapped. The three of them fell backward but Tina quickly scrambled to her feet and looked over as the sled smashed on the rock a far distance below. She fell on her rear and started crying, losing hope of saving Balto.

Fifteen minutes later after trying to wake Balto, Tina stopped trying so did Boris. Jenna wouldn't, she kept nudging him, no longer crying just because she was out of tears. "Jenna, he's gone…we've got to go or we'll freeze to death out here." Tina said, feeling crushed.

"She is right Jenna…Balto is…dead." said Boris, sad. Muk and Luk burst into a crying fit.

Jenna snapped around. "He's not dead! He can't be!" she yelled.

"Jenna, if he wasn't killed by the Outsider to begin with, he's probably froze to death by now and so will we if we don-"

"I'd rather freeze to death!" yelled Jenna, not willing to leave her mate. She laid on him as the others looked at their feet. "You can't die…you promised you wouldn't leave me…" she said softly. She cried, tears she didn't know she had left…"You can't be gone…" she said. Suddenly she heard something, a soft rhythmic thumping. A heart beat! She snapped up and looked at the others. "He's still alive! I heard his heart beat!" she said, excited.

Tina and Boris looked at each other. Tina went over to Balto and put her ear to his chest. She heard his heart beat. "She's right, he's heart is beating! Faintly but I can hear it!" she said. They resumed their effort to wake him. Jenna nudged him for a few moments before nuzzling his head.

"Come on Balto, you can't let us down now." she said.

Balto was in his dreamscape again, unconscious here too. Aniu approached him, Alex beside her. "He's still alive but he's so deeply unconscious, almost like a coma." said Alex.

"Alex, you might be from the future but you don't know all things, Balto will overcome this for his mate." said Aniu. She put her muzzle beside Balto's head. "Balto, you're loved ones need you, you must wake, Jenna's waiting."

In the real world, Balto's eyes snapped open. He groaned and looked at Jenna. "Miss me?" he asked.

"Balto! You're alive!" Jenna yelled. She nuzzled him till she was tired.

"It takes more than a monster to do me in…the Outsider! Where is it?!"

"Dead, we did it, its been destroyed." said Tina, smiling.

Muk and Luk prepared to hug Boris but for once waited. Boris was surprised but smiled. "Oh come on, give uncle Boris a hug." he said. They responded with their normal act of nearly crushing him.

"This is all well and good but…I'm still alive over here!" yelled Steele, laying on his side in the snow, his leg bent at a strange angle.

Tina walked over. "Fine." she said, rolling her eyes. "I'll hel-"

"No! I don't want your hel-"

"Shut up!" said Tina and struck Steele on the back of the neck, knocking him out. She bandaged his wounds and straitened his leg before splinting it. She slapped him awake. "There! You didn't deserve that but I did it anyway and don't be ungrateful or I'll reconsider and throw you in the chasm with the Outsider's flaming remains." Tina's yelling caused the avalanche blocking the canyon to rumble down itself and into the cave, covering all the remains of the Outsider beneath snow and rock, unblocking the path in the process. "Well that's convenient"

"Yeah, now let's go home." said Balto.

**Nome, Alaska, 4 am;**

"Why am I even here?" asked Steele, sitting angry on the outskirts of Nome.

"For once I'm agreeing with the bully." said Boris.

"Well I thought you'd want to say goodbye to Tina. Steele she did help you, would you rather she of thrown you into the chasm?" asked Balto.

Steele got mad but said nothing. "Steele you can't say anything about the Outsider, its extremely important that monster remains a secret." said Tina

"Yeah, yeah." said Steele, not really intending to do so.

"Steele's you're still the same selfish glory hound." said Balto

"Well if my calculations are correct, the passage should open soon." said Tina.

"Well if you're ever around please drop by." said Jenna, nuzzling her descendent.

"Same for you two."

"Goodbye." said Balto, licking her on the cheek.

Tina stepped back and drove one of the Outsider's broken metal claws into the ground. Thunder roared throughout the area. "Goodbye." she said as lightning surged down from the sky and struck the metal claw. Reality warped around her again. She pointed her snout skywards and let out a howl, Balto joined her and Alex appeared beside Tina and did the same. The warp ended, Tina was gone.

Luk pointed and said something. "How should I know what happen?!" asked Boris. "Oh great, I'm speaking bear again!"

"What the heck happened?!" asked Steele.

"Tina went home to the future, were she and the Outsider are from." said Jenna, rubbing against Balto and chuckling.

"She was staying with her ancestors." said Balto, a smirk forming on his face.

Steele's eyes went wide as he realized just who he'd been hitting on earlier. "You know I think you guys are right, no one needs to know about this." he said, rather rapidly.

**New York City, 7 am, 2007;**

Tina reemerged from the warp right were she'd began, this time she was able to not be knocked out. She looked up at Balto's statue and smiled. "Thank you." she said before letting out a howl. "Better go make sure the world isn't ruled by apes or something like that." she said with a laugh as she walked off.

Alex and Aniu watch down from above. "Well Aniu, you know that was a dangerous journey." said Alex.

"Yes but fate decided for it to be so and that terrible beast has been destroyed." said Aniu.

"Yeah, our charges' combined might was too much for it, I just wish it hadn't been such a close call."

"Time travel may change the path of time but there is always risk."

"Alright but lets try to prevent this in the future, if I was alive I'd of had a heart attack." said Alex with a laugh.

**The End…**


End file.
